Jealous Proposal
by Cody Thomas
Summary: Story is being re-worked, so chunks from a few chapters are now missing. It's intentional. Current chapter is new for those subscribed, while I make sure rest of story is site compliant. Over 18's can read unedited version on my AFF.
1. Jealous Proposal

A/N: I will add all valid warnings in here as they enter the story, otherwise it will be a LONG list and I'd rather save that for the summary.

Chapter 1 Warnings: Minor2; Harry is 17

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Chapter #1: Jealous Proposal

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Panting breath, flushed and heated skin, fiery kisses burning their way across nubile flesh as he is claimed so completely that molten lust seems to have replaced the blood in his veins . Who on earth could POSSIBLY think Slytherins were cold? Desperate cries of want and need, begging more of the delicious sensations that were driving every other thought away.

The name of his lover spills from his lips in a scream before being devoured by a hungry tongue. a moment later Harry's mind shatters into a million pleasure hazed pieces as his world becomes white light.

Lying sated, Harry curls against his lover, listening to the strong and steady beat of his heart, languidly tracing a dusky nipple while his lover's fingers play through his hair.

A guided tilt of his chin and he's kissed seductively, the teasing tongue against his making him smile. Solid and sure fingers weave through his, removing him from his prize before the weight of a ring is slid onto his fourth finger and his lover kisses his hand.

Harry looks at it questioningly, almost as if he doesn't understand what it is. "Why?"

"Because I want to ensure no one else steals you away."

He remembered earlier that night at dinner when on a dare, Lavender Brown had leaned over and kissed him. Harry smirked. "You look sexy when you're jealous Professor... maybe I should make you jealous more often..."

The barest hint of a blush told Harry volumes as the potions master looked away pointedly and pretended that he hadn't said anything. "So will you accept?"

Harry smiled. His lover never was a man of many words, let alone anything romantic. From Severus Snape this was practically a declaration of undying love and begging him to marry him.

"As long as you promise to give me a personal detention at least twice a week..."

"I am sure that you are more than capable of achieving more than that all on your own."

"Oh I plan on it, but you have to give me two of your own every week."

"Very well."

"Then I accept."

As Harry leaned up to kiss his new fiance' he began tracing the nipple again before allowing his fingers to wander lower as he pressed against Severus' thigh, silently asking to be taken again. He wanted to feel as much of his lover as possible before his detention was over for the night, even though he still had tomorrow's punishment to look forward to as well.

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A/N: My friend Esama and 'The Marriage Stone' made me do it! She gave me a link to the story and it put all these lovely Snarry images in my head, and I just HAD to write one down. Hope you liked it.

Update! No longer a complete work, The bunny woke back up and bit me, so expect more.


	2. At Breakfast

A/N: The bunny is back with one heck of a vengeance!

Chapter 2 Warnings: None. Harry's still 17 though.

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Chapter 2: At Breakfast

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Breakfast at the head table the next day had been an interesting event. The Gryffindor table had been abuzz, eventually drawing the attention of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, as well as some of the Slytherins. The gossip was loud enough to even reach the ears of the staff. Apparently, Harry Potter had admitted that a new gold ring spotted on a certain finger on his left hand, was in fact an engagement ring, but no one knew who had accepted the proposal.

Genevra Weasley looked on the verge of tears, and Snape had to admit some perverse satisfaction at that fact. True, Harry had never even noticed her attraction, but every doe eyed adoring glance she'd ever given Harry had set his teeth to clenching to bite back the snarling hexes he'd wanted to throw at her. She never even knew there was a competition, but that didn't stop him from enjoying his personal victory over the little chit.

Everyone was filled with speculation of who 'Mrs. Harry Potter' was going to be, since no one had even known he'd been dating anyone. Several girls were looking suspiciously at each other's hands for the incriminating evidence, while others were admiring necklaces, searching for a chain that might be hiding a ring from sight.

Snape smirked into his earl grey tea, no one suspected the truth. Not one would ever believe that _Harry Potter_, the savior of the wizarding race, the loudest, brashest, bravest, and most stubbornly headstrong Gryffindor the house had turned out since Godderic himself, preferred the company of men. Or that he would do _anything_ to have someone take away the power the world had given him so that he could be what the rest of the world ignored... a 17 year old boy.

Severus gloated inwardly as Harry came into the Great Hall, looking for all the world as if he was completely unaware that half of the room somehow made it a point to look at his hand as he walked through. He didn't even try hiding the ring, which warmed something inside of Severus that the boy wasn't ashamed of them. When Ms. Weasley saw it she finally lost her composure and rushed from the Great Hall, and Snape debated adding that as one of the best memories he ever had. No matter who his fiancé was, Snape still loved making Gryffindors cry.

Ronald Weasley was sitting about as close to the head table as one could get, and Harry immediately sat across from him. The Granger girl was the next to show up and a great many of the whispers increased, apparently with Ms. Weasley out of the running, many thought that she was the one Harry had proposed to. She walked purposefully through the hall and still standing, she grabbed his hand.

"So it is true." She said, loud enough that Snape had the great satisfaction of watching everyone in hearing distance deflate. She could hardly be his fiancée if she hadn't even known about it. Quite the cunning move, Severus would have awarded points if she'd been in his house.

"Yes."

The potions master watched her reaction discretely. Her gaze briefly flickered to him, hidden from others, and when he merely raised an eyebrow in questioning challenge, she just sighed heavily before nodding at her friends and sitting down beside Harry as usual. "You just LOVE causing a stir don't you?"

The youngest Weasley boy looked slightly wary. "Aren't you even going to tell us who it is mate?"

Snape's heart jumped while the redhead was oblivious to the several people now attentively listening while trying to pretend that they weren't.

It wasn't that Severus was in any way ashamed of their relationship, Harry had been a legally consenting adult when they had first made love at the Black manor over the summer holidays, it's what he'd asked Severus for on his 17th birthday. Until then they had only shared kisses and chaste embraces since the boy had been 14, when he'd gone to give the boy a dreamless sleep draught after the disaster of the tri-wizard tournament and Harry, for reasons unknown to both of them, had clung to Severus and cried himself to sleep in his arms, begging him for some way to make it right.

They had been together ever since, first as a sort of mentor/ protege which had evolved into much stronger feelings over the years as they found more in common with each other. They were always discreet, never changing the way they had acted towards each other in public, although it was little surprise that his two closest friends eventually figured it out. It was good for Harry that they accepted it, but Snape really didn't care if they had their approval or not. Because what he and Harry had, he wouldn't let anyone take away.

However, there were reasons for it to remain a secret. Neither the age difference (now that Harry was legal), or the fact that they were both men were an issue in their world. But a teacher in a relationship with one of their students was still not favorably looked upon, whether the boy was considered legal or not. Nor would he live very long should the children of his 'allies', and soon after, Voldemort, learn that he was not the loyal Death Eater they all thought he was.

His thoughts were broken as Ms. Granger kicked the Weasley boy rather soundly in the shins while glaring.

"OW! What was that for?"

"Because you are incredibly thick! Think about where we are. Do you really think he would tell you something that private HERE of all places? Besides, you probably can guess who it is."

"No I can- Aww GEEZE you're really gonna mar-"

"Silenco!"

The dual charm flew across the table from both Harry and Hermione, effectively silencing Weasley before he could say too much. Snape smirked and returned to his breakfast, he didn't wish to be caught looking at them too long.

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"You idiot!" Hermione hissed. "You never think before opening that big mouth of yours do you? Harry doesn't want anyone else to know yet, right Harry?"

"Sorry Ron, but she's right, I can't have who it is getting around just yet, I mean we haven't even gotten a chance to tell our families."

Harry's smirk was simply devilish. As if he would ever care what the Dursleys opinion was about anything. If they ever found out, they would be the last ones to know.

"Oh stop glaring at us and eat your breakfast or I won't use the counter charm." Hermione sniped.

Harry had to stifle a chuckle as an indignant Ron silently tucked into his eggs and sausage. He leaned over and whispered quietly.

"Thanks Hermione."

"Anytime."

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A/N: Well this plot bunny woke up, whipped around, and bit me in the ass. Hard. Somehow a one shot sex scene turned into a currently 11 chapter story with plot. Don't ask me how. Lucky you and lucky me. Seriously I'm just being held hostage by the plot bunny at this point, I have no idea where this is going. Don't know how long it's going to stick around, which is why I will write as fast as I can. Enjoy, and I will update as soon as I possibly can. Please Review!


	3. Potions Class

Chapter warnings: Minor2, UST, Fantasizing

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Chapter 3: Potion's Class

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By lunch the entire school knew that Harry was engaged, and an all out witch hunt was on for the girl who had accepted, since when asked directly, Harry had refused to answer with anything other than "I'm not telling, but my fiancé might admit it if they want to." Anyone wearing any sort of ring was suspect, and for the first time ever the rumor mill had absolutely no one fessing up even in jest that they were engaged to him, not wanting to be caught in their own lies or to make themselves a possible target.

Harry himself was enjoying being in control of the situation for once, even if he'd been hoping that several girls would claim he was engaged to them just to confuse the heck out of everyone when he wouldn't have denied or confirmed anyone's claim.

Harry had double potions with the Slytherins after lunch and even though it was already in his bag, he made an excuse to run back to the common room to get his homework. By the time he made it to the dungeons he was a few minutes late, nothing drastic, but most likely enough to earn a detention from his temperamental lover. He slipped into the classroom silently. Snape's back was turned as he slid into the empty seat next to Neville in the second row, and for a moment he thought that maybe Snape hadn't noticed his absence, which irked him. But as the snarky potions master turned back around from writing on the board, he fixed Harry with a cold, hard stare that sent shudders of arousal through him.

"And I see that Mr. Potter has finally decided to grace us with his presence. Five points from Griffindor. Perhaps next time you decide to flirt with your fan club between classes you can remember to be on time for your other responsibilities."

"But professor, I-"

"No excuses! And if you open your mouth again Potter, it will be fifty points. Now copy your notes."

So the snarky bat wasn't going to give out detentions so easily huh? Well, he could play that game too. And not allowed to get it by opening his mouth... He'd accept _that_ challenge as well.

A simple summoning charm and everyone's homework flew onto Snape's desk. Harry knew by the icy smirk Snape gave him that he had his homework first. He had threatened Harry a few nights before that if he copied Hermione's homework again he wouldn't get laid for a week. Harry simply smirked back as the man began comparing the two assignments, before continuing on with his notes.

"Potter."

"Yes Professor?"

"What was the assignment which was due today?"

"Half a scroll on the different properties of Diurnally and Nocturnally harvested Tarragonian tree sap, and three ways each type can be used in specific potions, Sir."

"Aside from your usual failings in spelling and basic grammar, perhaps you can explain to me how you would go about using such a highly noxious and poisonous substance in a skin cleansing cream, especially when touching it will burn flesh down to the very bone?"

The Slytherins were snickering heartily, but it was a trick question and Harry knew it.

"By placing two drops of dragons blood into every eight drams of nocturnal sap you cancel out the acidic properties. Then, combining 1 part neutralized sap into 6 parts of a pre-made and chilled skin soothing mixture of lavender, rose petals, violets, aloe, ghee, honey, and thestral milk, not only removes most of the smell but adds an astringent property to it which is effective against most skin disorders. Heating this mixture to a light steam for 12 minutes and adding two shredded dandelion roots halfway through will cancel the toxins and the rest of the smell, Sir."

"And where did you acquire this formula? Compared to your normal standard of unconcerned laziness, one might believe you had actually opened a book. Or perhaps you simply tapped into an _endless well of information_ that happened to be handy?" He sneered, glaring coldly at Hermione.

"No sir, I found the formula in **Mistress Millie's Medicinal Mixtures for Managing Mundane Maladies.** I referenced it and all the other books I used at the bottom."

"Mr. Potter, it is your seventh year in my class, and barring an act from the ghost of Merlin himself, I will only have to put up with your arrogance and ineptitude for one final year. Don't you think that it is a bit late to try becoming the Teacher's Pet after I already know what an academic failure you are?"

Harry bit his lips to hold back the smirk as the Slytherins started outright laughing.  
_'Teacher's pet huh? That could be VERY fun...'_

"I simply decided to try and do the work this year Sir."

"I'll believe that when I see it Potter."

It only took a few more minutes for Harry to finish copying down the formula for the day, and with a couple minutes left before they had to start preparing their potion Harry began focusing on legilimancy. He probed Severus' mind, or at least let him know he was trying to probe his mind, something the man would never allow without retaliation. Severus immediately threw off the attempt and trapped Harry with his own wandless and non verbal probe to see what he was up to. Harry didn't resist, he drew Severus in and held him tightly as he opened his thoughts.

He showed the potions master what he was thinking; how he wanted to be on his knees, drawing his professor's cock down his throat, the man forcing him to take it ever deeper while the entire class watched.

_ 'I want them to see their hero break into pieces right before their eyes, I want you to make me fall so far off their pedestal that there's no doubt in anyone's mind that I'm just a boy, easily bent to the will of the one stronger than me. But that's not Voldemort like they all fear; it's you. You could make me kneel before you with a word, one word and I would be helpless before you... Professor.' _

Snape forced him to release his mind and pulled back. He only caught a slight glimpse of Severus' flushed face, but with those narrowed eyes it was easy to mistake the look as apocalyptic rage instead of near desperate arousal. Severus almost made a move, he almost gave in and snapped at him, but somehow managed to stop himself before drawing attention to himself. Harry pretended he hadn't noticed the glare at all and proceeded setting out his ingredients and tools for the day's potion.

"You have one hour to make this revitalizing potion with your partner and each bring up a labeled vial for grading. Begin."

The potion went without a hitch, even with Neville as his partner and Snape stalking the dungeon like a starving basilisk, ready to snap up the first person to make a sound or a mistake. Harry had even made sure that most of the class, including Neville, had already gone up and delivered their vials before 'accidentally' tripping and spilling his cauldron all over the floor, his uncorked sample flying out of his hand and landing on Snape's desk, dousing the man with potion as the beaker shattered. There was a gasped silence and a sudden flurry of everyone getting their things together as soon as possible, the enraged professor rising from his desk, looking to be out for blood.

"POTTER! Perhaps scrubbing all the cauldrons after school today will teach you to be less clumsy!"

"But Sir, I already have detention with you today..."

"You just earned yourself another three days, and since you have no sample, you won't be getting a grade either! Now clean up this mess and get out of my sight!"

No one saw the gleam in Harry's eyes as he began cleaning up the spilled potion while the rest of the class began hurrying out.

As soon as he was finished and the last person had left, Harry slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out an identically labeled vial full of potion and saw his lover visibly relax as he set it on the desk with a smile. Snape hated failing him more than anything, and if he would have done something as silly as intentionally failing a class assignment just to keep up the appearance of hatred between them, Severus really WOULD get mad at him.

_'Kiss me'_. Harry's eyes spoke clearly. The dour potions master glared at him. _'Later'_.

A slight smirk, a mischievous slanting of the eyes. Snape frowned and glared harder. The boy only smiled further as he turned around and slowly walked out of the room, his lover's eyes glaring at him suspiciously... and with good reason.

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A/N: yeah, two chappies in one day, told you the little bugger bit me hard. I am already working on chapter 4 and warning now, Sex Scene! ^_^

I think I had more fun than should be legal while writing about a potions class, but it was so much fun finding ways to make Harry be clever and sneaky and find a way to still get detention without mouthing off or hurting anyone.


	4. Breaking and Entering

A/N: You've all been so awesome! As a thank you I give you... SEX! A whole chapter of it in fact, because you are all just that incredibly awesome. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 4 Warnings: Minor2

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Chapter 4: Breaking and Entering

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After dinner, knowing that Severus was in the potions lab from a quick glance at the Maurader's Map, he broke into Severus' chambers while hidden under the invisibility cloak. Knowing Severus had rigged the place because of past pranksters, he disturbed the privacy wards and alarms intentionally. It wouldn't be long now.

*This part is being reworked for site compliance and will return soon*

He couldn't tell how long it lasted, his entire world had become the steam of the shower, the thrust of Severus' against him, the tightness of his lover's arms around him and the feeling of every little care and worry being stripped off as he obeyed and held on to Severus for all he was worth. The layers of expectations for the 'Savior of the Wizarding World' melted away and were washed down the drain as he utterly, down to his very soul, surrendered and became Severus' 'Harry'.

The rest of the night was perfect. He came back from Sub-Space on Severus' bed, already warm and dry with his lover kissing him back to coherency. As soon as he was able to he grabbed Severus and brought their mouths together, hungry to taste him fully.

"Thank you, thank you SO much..."

"You're acting as if this is over. I merely wanted you conscious. You make the loveliest screams in the heat of pleasure, I'd hate to miss any of them."

And so it had continued for hours, sometimes tender and sometimes hard, filled with hot and passionate kisses that would have left them unable to stand if they weren't already tangled on the bed. Eventually the evening grew late enough that the curfew bell rang, which they both ignored in favor of continuing their current quest of tongues and teeth over every inch of skin they could claim. When it got to the point it was late enough to be early and Harry was all but sleeping in Severus' arms, the Potions Master reluctantly roused his green eyed lover and gave him a look that told Harry just how he felt about him leaving, but that the boy still needed to go.

"I want to stay too. I wish I could be shut off from everyone else for a whole weekend, but there's just no way to explain it or even hide it without the whole wizarding population going completely crazy. I keep fantasizing that you whisk me away for the entirety of spring break and I get to spend my days just wandering around your chambers, having you hold me and read to me and feed me whatever you want me to eat. I could watch you from the sitting room while you brew in the lab, just waiting for you to wander over whenever you felt like making love to me again."

"Or to pin you down and have my wicked way with you."

"That's making love too. I LIKE it when you're aggressive, pinning me to the mattress, spreading my legs with your own..."

"Kicking you out of my bed before you get me going again and we are both useless in the morning..."

"It already IS morning, and a Saturday to boot! But yeah, harder to explain the later I stay. It's not right, I belong with you-"

"One final year Harry. No matter what excuse we use, you're moving in as soon as you graduate, we can make it until then. You're right, it's not fair, but please, for both our sakes..."

"I know. It's just, I shouldn't have to hide you. I'm not ashamed of you, you're a hero for Merlin's sake! I want to tell everyone just how wrong they are about someone they should be thanking a hell of a lot more than they thank me. I've never done anything grand or heroic, at least not intentionally or without sheer luck. But this war would be impossible to win without what you are doing."

"We both know there's only one way for that to happen Harry."

"Yeah. You're always protecting me Severus, but someday it will be safe again, and you and I will walk down the street together and no one will bat an eye about it."

"I look forward to it, now get to your dorm before McGonagall wakes and finds you not in your bed."

Harry smirked as he slid the cloak over himself and gave Severus one last invisible kiss.

"I love you too. Goodnight Severus."

"Goodnight, My Harry."

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A/N: I will have the rest of this back up as soon as I can. see you soon!


	5. Memories

**A/N: MAJORLY IMPORTANT UPDATE!**

I KNOW I promised only a week before updating the next chapter of Jealous Proposal, and no I didn't forget and I HAVE written it, the issue is we had a house break-in earlier this week and 2 of the things the thieves took was our modem and wireless router. and other things I won't list because I'll just get ticked off again. :( Luckily I took my laptop to work with me that day so the story wasn't lost, BUT I currently have no way of getting it from the laptop onto the internet or even to the desktop (Which isn't mine and doesn't even possess a writing program for me to type it up here, since it is a high end graphics computer and my love is letting me use it to write this to you out of the goodness of her heart.) As soon as we replace the router or get hold of a thumb drive we'll be back in business, since I don't even have access to a nearby place with free wifi so I can email the story to a friend's computer. Sorry for the delay, but in the meantime I will work on the other chapters and get a head start on more stuff to share with you guys. Sorry for the unexpected glitch, and I will post a full update soon. Peace! - Cody Thomas

END OF MAJORLY IMPORTANT UPDATE

Chapter 5 warnings: Minor2, Toys (mentioned)

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Chapter 5: Memories

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Severus lay awake after Harry had left, the room felt like all the light and warmth had seeped out of it. He had come to loathe his rooms when Harry wasn't in them. It was hard to believe that so many years had already passed for them. He remembered how impossible the boy had been at first, teenage hormones were an absolutely infuriating thing all on their own, but paired with the situation they nearly became deadly. He still liked to remember how this whole thing had started. Harry had cornered him with, at the time, the most ridiculous declaration at the end of a detention in his fifth year.

"Mind repeating that Potter?"

"You heard me! I said I love you!"

"I know we may have gotten on better of late Potter, but you are delusional to confuse mentorship and romance. I don't care how unloved your childhood might have been, it should be common sense that positive attention doesn't equate to deeper feelings or even affection. Any of your adoring fans will be more then happy to shower you with attention and disgusting simpering romance. Go find one of them to foist your unwanted attentions on."

"I don't want them! I want you! Why won't you listen?"

"Because you are acting insane. What exactly do you find so fetching? I am not young, nor handsome, nor kind, and I do not 'clean up well'. I am every bit the mean, bitter, cantankerous, greasy git I seem, and nothing is going to change that."

"I don't care! In fact I LIKE you that way. I like the snark and the sarcasm and all the rest of it because it's YOU."

"Get this through your thick head you hormonally poisoned moronic excuse for an adolescent. You are Out. Of. Your. Mind. Whatever rose colored fantasy of me you've schemed up in that head of yours is completely inaccurate. I am NOT a nice man!"

"No, you're not, but you're a good man."

"If my only redeeming quality is that I'm 'a good man' I fail to see why you are so attracted."

"I don't know, but I'm used to good things in my life not always making sense, aren't you? You're a good man Severus Snape, best I know in fact."

"Oh really? This should be interesting. "

"I'm serious! You're braver than I could ever hope to be. I just skirt the edges of the ice, you tap dance on it. You walk straight into Voldemort's circle and lie to his face while surrounded by people who would happily kill you if you misstep. You're strong, you're always honest with me, and one of the only people who treats me like a person, not an object to be admired. Brave, honest, smart, talented, grounded, and a good man. You sound like a pretty decent bloke to me."

And then the boy had kissed him. And noticed that Severus didn't exactly try very hard to pull away. To this day Snape declared that it was merely shock that had made him freeze up.

"You're crazy Potter." He'd growled when those lips that had felt so warm and soft and entirely too trusting and innocent for either of their own good had pulled away and he'd had the momentary desire to follow them back to their source and coax another kiss out of them, but thankfully his will power was stronger than _that_.

The boy had grinned up at him like Snape had just handed him an early Christmas present.

"Probably, but that's not gonna stop me. Look me in the eye and tell me you feel nothing for me and _mean_ it and I'll leave you alone and you can even pretend like I didn't just kiss you, and you _didn't_ hex me into oblivion for it."

Severus had tried, honestly he had, he'd glared Potter down with a stare that had on more than one occasion made a first year wet themselves after screwing up the simplest of potions, but he said nothing. Harry smiled, and that had loosened his tongue. "This is pointless Potter, I can lie to the Dark Lord's face, so why would I waste my words on someone without ears and obviously no brain? You have no reason to keep up this ridiculous prank, or dare, or whatever this is. You kissed your teacher, congratulations, go brag about your accomplishment to your friends and leave me alone."

The look of devastating hurt that had crossed the boy's face was so painful to see that Snape felt an uncomfortable lump in his throat and found himself clenching his teeth and biting his tongue to keep himself from apologizing. Graceful exit be damned, he turned to leave and just get away from those damning green eyes, but Harry caught his arm, and pulled him back, and then kissed him again. He felt helpless, and hopeful, and maybe just the tiniest bit frightened by the warmth that had spread all over him. He didn't even feel Potter pull away.

"I would never use a person's feelings as a way to hurt someone, and I would never tell somebody I loved them as a joke. I could never do that, ever. You said I don't have a 'reason' to love you, big deal, I love you, and unless you honestly push me away or say you don't want me, I'm staying. Deal with it."

And he did. After the truce and the mentorship and the psudo friendship, it was surprisingly easy to get closer to Potter, like it was simply the next natural step for both of them. And while Snape was both unused to the closeness of another person, and the fact that Harry wanted to be held as often as possible, he admitted at least to himself that he liked being the one Harry turned to, relied on, trusted, and greeted with a smile when they were alone. Harry made him feel alive and worth something, more than a spy or a servant or a teacher or a traitor, he made him feel like a human, not a title, and that meant something to Severus.

But about 4 months after this tentative relationship started, it nearly ended in disaster when Harry had once more taken the initiative and literally tried seducing him. It wasn't that he didn't find the boy attractive, but still, he was a _boy_, not a _man_. There were very good and strict laws about such things that Severus happened to agree with wholeheartedly. No matter how he felt, Harry was still underage, and Snape himself was many things, but not a monster. When he'd recoiled in horror and physically pushed Harry away from him when the 15 year old had tried to slip his hand down his slacks, the rejection was not well received and Snape was quickly reminded on just how short fused and raging the boy's temper truly was.

There had been an explosive fight and Snape's moral high ground was just not considered a good enough excuse by Harry for such blatant rejection. At the time Severus was still unaware about how desperate the boy was for love and acceptance, and if he could have done things differently he would have done anything to prevent the pained, doubtful glance that Harry had sometimes gotten in his eyes over the next two years because of that fight, but in the end he was glad he hadn't budged on his stance. Harry hadn't spoken to him for a whole two weeks, until Severus realized that he had to be the one to be the true adult and show Harry the full picture, and not just the hormonally poisoned tunnel vision that all teenagers seemed to be trapped in. Admitting his feelings on that level however was not something that he was entirely comfortable with.

He'd sent the boy an anonymous note stating only that they needed to talk and gave a time, knowing Harry would know where to meet. Part of him was worried that Harry would be stubborn and refuse to come out of spite. The hours before the meeting were nerve-wracking for Severus, although he would never admit it. When Harry showed up Severus could have breathed a sigh of relief. He restrained himself. Even though he knew Harry was still mad at him it didn't stop him from pulling the young man to him and kissing him in greeting. Harry only let it continue for a moment before pulling away, eyes hurt and angry.

"What, so _now_ you want me? What made you change your mind about wanting such a_ little boy_?"

"Nothing Harry, nothing has changed, and I don't think of you that way, unless of course you insist on continuing to act like one. If you want me to treat you like an adult then for Merlin's sake act like one and not a petulant child who's pouting because they didn't get their way."

Harry had clenched his teeth together and managed to hold back whatever biting retort he had, finally managing to growl out "What did you want to talk about?"

Knowing they wouldn't get anywhere if he didn't manage to calm down Harry's temper first, he gestured for Harry to sit down and summoned him an ice cold bottle of butterbeer and poured a decent serving of amaretto for himself. After the third or fourth sip of the smooth almond flavored liquor, he felt more relaxed and managed to pull his thoughts together.

"Alright, I want you to let me talk without interruptions, and then if by the time I'm done talking you don't understand the full severity of exactly what this relationship entails, then we will have an equally serious conversation on whether continuing this relationship at all is good for either one of us. Agreed?"

Harry had swallowed harshly, took a swig of butterbeer, and nodded.

"Alright then. You say I'm treating you like a child by my refusal to sleep with you, well Harry I hate to break it to you, but no matter how mature you act or how Dumbledore or anyone else treats you, you ARE a child, _especially_ in the eyes of the law. There are no less than twenty seven laws regarding relationships with minors, and even though in our world you come of age a whole year before the muggles, you are still two years away from being legal in the wizarding world. I would be breaking almost every one of those laws if I slept with you. And I know a forbidden romance seems romantic and exciting to you, but it's not, it's illegal, and as much as I believe you wouldn't tell anyone, we couldn't hide it Harry.  
As a minor you still have the Trace on you to detect underage magic, that bond also serves another purpose, to make sure that your growing magical core doesn't become tainted, and if it does, it points a finger directly to the person who was responsible. When witches and wizards have sex their magical signatures mix as well, so the next time you went to Poppy for one of your endless injuries she would see your core, immediately be able to detect that the other signature entwined with it had no Trace, meaning the person was of legal age and be required by law to notify the headmaster and the aurors that you had been raped.  
It doesn't matter if it was consensual or not, sex with a minor in any form is illegal. I would be arrested and sent to Azkaban for a minimum of 20 years, and when I got out I would be forced to register as a sex offender, lose any hope of regaining my teaching job, and any good reputation I might have left. Finding any sort of work would become nearly impossible.  
And even if we somehow managed to keep it secret, I still wouldn't take that chance. You don't live the kind of life I have by taking stupid chances. Besides, how long do you expect this thing between us to last? A few months? A couple of years? Or are you somehow picturing us surviving the entire deadly insanity that is our lives until we're dottering old men who keep misplacing our spectacles and teeth? How ever it plays out, do you really want that stain lingering like a shadow over everything, tarnishing every memory anytime someone sees your tainted core and it says I raped you, even though to you it wasn't rape?"

He had taken a breath, the next part was so hard for him to say, but he needed Harry to understand...

"I know it seemed cold of me to push you away like I did, but I had my reasons. I care about you Harry, enough that I will not touch you until it is legal, because I believe you are worth waiting for. You say you are in love with me, but do you love me enough to wait? To wait two years until you are of age and no one can object?"

He barely got to finish before he had his arms full of Harry who clung to him so tightly it was actually hard to breathe. They didn't say anything for a long time, Severus just held Harry who seemed to either be crying, or trying NOT to cry so hard that he was shaking. Severus just held him.

"Is that a yes?" He finally asked and Harry nodded into his shoulder. Severus had quietly smiled and held Harry a bit closer.

When Harry finally pulled away the boy had ducked his head to hide his face. "So what does that mean exactly? 'No sex?' What's the definition of that? Just no penetration or-"

"No Harry, no sexual contact at all. No penetration, blowjobs, hand jobs, fingering, frottage, or even french kissing. No touch that can arouse us to the point our magical auras try to mingle until you are 17. Can you accept that?"

Harry had sighed and rested his head on his shoulder. "The next two years are going to suck."

"Then perhaps we can amuse ourselves with other things that do not break the rules."

"Like what?"

"We don't know each other very well yet, so we can learn about each other. There's always teaching you things that would never be taught here, and if you are agreeable, role playing."

That had led to an extremely interesting conversation of what role playing was, and once he tried it Harry had taken to it almost faster than he had taken to quidditch. Severus meanwhile had the interesting and unique challenge of coming up with scenarios that would be fun and freeing for Harry yet still remain completely non-sexual. It was difficult at times, but he managed.

Harry'd had it worse than Severus did, rampaging teenage hormones and all, but his lover introducing him to sex toys spared both of them from breaking any of the rules, and took the edge off for Harry. Severus only had two rules about them, Harry couldn't use them to tease him, and if he got caught with them he had to say that he had bought them himself and accept whatever consequences arose from that.

Harry had only broken a rule once. The night before summer vacation started at the end of his sixth year he had come down to Severus's rooms and given the man a private viewing to show him just how much he had learned with the toys. "Just so you don't forget about me over the summer, and to know what you're welcome to come and get in a month and a half, because I want YOU as my 17th birthday present."

Severus had never found himself counting down the days before then, but afterwards he had become achingly aware of how much time was left until Harry was a legal adult and could finally be completely his. He had even made sure to come up with a plausible reason to stay at headquarters the day of and the day after Harry's birthday. It had been a far more than memorable couple of days, and the way Harry had glowed with happiness had proven to Severus that Harry also thought it had been well worth the wait. The young man had barely let him have a moments rest ever since, and Severus found that he didn't mind Harry's enthusiasm at all, in fact it made him feel years younger and also had distinctly unique effect of making him feel wanted, desired... sexy, which were all feelings he could honestly said no one but Harry had ever managed to make him feel.

Perhaps that was why he'd been so bold as to slide a bonding ring on Harry's hand the night before, even knowing what an uproar it would cause if anyone found out. But Harry was _his_ and he'd wanted to prove it, especially when he'd watched Ms. Brown walk straight up to Harry, tap him on the shoulder, and then kiss him on the lips. Severus knew it was either a joke or a dare, he knew Harry had no interest in her, or anyone else for that matter. But it had still taken every shred of his willpower not to swoop down on her and disfigure her face irreparably and then rip off her arms for good measure.

He had wanted to ask Harry after he had graduated, once they had lived together for awhile and the time felt right, but seeing that kiss had made him realize that even though Harry would never stray, unless there was proof he was attached everyone else would still consider him fair game, and Snape wanted to stay out of Azkaban.

When Harry had been in his arms that night, he couldn't stop himself. He hoped that Harry would say yes, that he would understand what such a ring meant, and if he wasn't ready to go that far because of how young he was, to downplay it saying it was merely a token, a promise of one day, when Harry was ready. His lover had taken it as an engagement ring though, which wasn't true, but still more than acceptable to Snape since he'd still accepted. The trick now though, was to try and figure out just how to tell Harry the full implications of the ring before someone else did.

The memory of Harry's smile brought some of the warmth back into the room, and Severus was finally able to close his eyes and fall asleep.

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A/N: I LOVE writing Snape, seriously, I have so much fun making him stoic outside but complex inside.

Ooooh what's the full story on the ring? I have no clue, ask the rabid plot bunny biting my ass what it's doing, I'm just typing what my captor tells me to.

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	6. Chess Master

A/N: I'm BACK! Thank you all for your patience, enjoy the new chapter, and please review!

Chapter 6 warnings: Minor2

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Chapter 6: Chess Master

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The multiple hickeys were impossible to hide unless Harry disillusioned his entire neck, and that's just the way he liked them. Although this would only confirm that his fiancé was indeed somewhere within the walls of the school, showing off the marks would only draw further attention away from the quiet and stoic man. Not only did his detention record say he had finished at 9 o'clock, but who would ever in a million years believe that Severus Snape was not only his betrothed, but such a passionate and possessive lover that he couldn't resist marking his claim on the one person everyone somehow wanted a piece of? Harry could practically see the thoughts that had been running through Severus' mind as he'd made each one the night before; 'You don't even know who I am even though you try to look so hard for me, almost thinking me a figment of one's imagination. But here's proof that I am real. Here's proof that he belongs to me, that I have touched your precious hero, I have marked, sullied, maybe even defiled that which you nearly consider sacred, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. He is my proof that I love him, and you have lost to a person you can't even see.'

Harry loved each one, and hoped they wouldn't fade anytime soon.

He had breakfast with Hermione and Ron, Ron was blushing and looking mortified and doing his absolute best to not look at either Harry's neck, nor the Head Table, which Harry both appreciated and found hilarious. Hermione on the other hand had this evil conspiracy smile that actually almost made Harry blush but he couldn't tell exactly what he would have been embarrassed about.

He went to Quidditch practice and had just gotten showered, changed, and grabbed a quick sandwich in the great hall so he could be on time for his next detention with Snape, when McGonagall waylaid him in the corridor and insisted he come with her to the Headmaster's office.

"But Snape will double the time if I'm late!"

"I will personally escort you down to the dungeons afterward to make sure he doesn't, now come along Mr. Potter."

He couldn't very well say he'd much rather go to detention, thank-you-very-much, so he dutifully followed McGonagall through the castle up to the spiral staircase and into the Headmaster's office.  
For once, Dumbledore was not twinkling at him, in fact he was rather stoic, which Harry found quite disconcerting.

"You wanted to see me Sir?" Harry asked as he sat down on one of the squashy armchairs.

"Yes I did Harry. I know you are to see Professor Snape soon so I will keep this brief. I must admit, I'm rather concerned about some of the rumors I've been hearing, and I was hoping to speak to you so that we can put some of them to rest."

"Rumors, Sir?"

"About that ring on your left hand."

Harry almost laughed, but managed to just smile a bit, and innocently at that.

"You mean my engagement ring Sir?"

You could almost miss the extremely slight widening of the man's eyes if Harry hadn't been watching so closely. He had taken the old man by surprise, that didn't happen very often for anyone.

"That is one of the rumors I have been hearing, yes. Care to explain?"

"What's there to explain?"

"You're sure it's an engagement ring?"

Harry's brow furrowed. "Yeah, it's still what a ring becomes when someone asks to get married and the other person says 'yes' here in the wizarding world right? Or is there a custom here I don't know?"

"No Harry, the customs here are the same."

"Okay then yes, it's an engagement ring. For once everyone has gotten things right."

The look of relief on the Headmaster's face was brief but Harry still caught it. The man was hiding things again.

"Perhaps so, but no one seems to know who it is you've asked either."

He tried to keep the smirk off his face at the mental image of the look on Severus' face if Harry had attempted to be the one to propose. Severus would have glared and said 'no' on principle then immediately turned around and proposed himself.

"That's because I'm not telling."

"Precisely, but for their own safety you must tell us who this person you are engaged to is. There are steps that must be taken."

"What part of 'not telling' didn't you get?" Harry asked, crossing his arms and standing his ground.

Dumbledore and McGonagall looked startled. "You won't even tell US my boy?" The Headmaster asked incredulously.

"It's not anyone's business except for me and my fiancés', and no, I won't tell you or anyone else. I live almost my entire life in the public eye, this is one thing I intend to keep as only mine as long as I can."

McGonagall stepped forward, a worrying tone in her voice.

"But surely you know that their life is in danger. You-Know-Who will hunt them down and destroy them at the first chance!"

Harry almost felt sorry for his head of house, she really did believe that knowing who he was engaged to would help them protect Harry and his interests more fully, but there was no way he was telling, especially not with Dumbledore in the room.

"All the more reason to keep their name secret. For their safety as well as mine. The fewer who know, the safer they are. My fiancé knew exactly what they were getting into when they got involved with me. When the time is right, you'll know, until then, I'm sorry, but it's none of your business."

"Your efforts are backfiring my boy, instead of drawing attention away from them, it merely makes people more curious to know who they are. It was a well meaning plan, but it is no longer working."

The old man was slipping, Harry read through those lines perfectly. Dumbledore didn't give a shit about the other person's safety, it was just the curiosity of not knowing something that was eating the headmaster alive. "It's actually working perfectly. They aren't focused on my fiancé, they are focused on me, they are hoping for clues, indicators, anything that can give them an idea of who it is that I love. But they've got nothing to go on, and have no idea who to be looking for. People are quickly coming to realize that most of them know nothing about me except for my name and my various 'heroic' exploits or whatever current campaign the Daily Prophet is printing about me. None of them know enough about me to tell what I'd want in a relationship, or even who I'd be attracted to, not to mention wanting to spend the rest of my life with."

"When the issue does not resolve itself Harry, the mystery merely burrows deeper into the heart until it cannot be ignored. Voldemort will soon grow curious as well, and then-"

"And then he will find nothing. I have taken my own steps to protect their identity Headmaster, I may be pants at occluding, especially against Voldemort, but that will not matter when the memories are not in my head to be viewed, and the only one I keep with me has been heavily modified and isn't of their face."

"You've been performing mind magic on your own mind? Harry that can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing!" McGonnagall piped up, actually looking a bit frightened for her student.

"I DO know what I'm doing. Ever since Snape decided to try and rip my mind to pieces and call it _lessons_, I've done nothing but independant study so that if anyone tried to get in my head again there would be nothing for them to find. All of my personal memories are kept safe with my betrothed, and the only way I recognize them for who they are is when they whisper a key phrase to unlock my memory of them. I can walk right by them everyday without so much as them catching my attention. So if I don't even recognize my own lover until it is safe for me to do so, then I highly doubt anyone else can."

"Harry-" The headmaster began, but Harry interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, but your curiosity will just have to go unsated for the time being. If there is nothing else Headmaster, I need to get down to the dungeons for my detention with Snape before he decides to add another day for every minute I'm late."

Dumbledore hadn't been pleased with that, Harry could tell, but he refused to relent either. Most of it was true anyway. Severus did keep a copy of Harry's and his own memories safe, in case they ever had to take the ultimate step and actually _obliviate_ each other to protect themselves and had even buried Harry's most vulnerable memories deep in his mind while Severus simply removed them from his own mind completely and stored them somewhere safe. But even though it was possible to do, the part about not knowing Severus on sight was complete bunk. If the situation grew more dangerous that might be their next step, but why tip his hand to Dumbledore? He knew from Severus's and his own experiences just how meddlesome the old man could be, and the less cause to give the man a desire to try and snoop around his head the better.

It didn't matter how much Dumbledore said things were for the greater good, or what magnanimous plans he played out in some grand scheme against the evils of the world, in his old age Harry thought perhaps the headmaster had forgotten a great many things. Such as the fact that over time, power corrupts, no matter who wields it or to what end, power always changes people, and Albus Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards he'd ever known. He'd also had that power for a very long time. The man was so caught up in his plans and schemes to rid the world of Voldemort, Harry thought perhaps the man had sometimes forgotten he was not commanding game pieces, but people's lives. Dumbledore had also forgotten, or just didn't care to think, that just because someone was on your side didn't mean you could control their lives or were allowed to know everything about them if they didn't wish for you to know.

Harry had often wondered how exactly it was that the headmaster of a school who was not related to him, and had no legal guardianship over him, was permitted to decide where he would live after his parents died. Especially when he'd had a godfather and an honorary uncle who would have been more than willing, and had even been asked by his own parents to care for him if such a thing should occur. It also shouldn't have been up to Dumbledore where he spent his summers, yet every year the man had done just that, making sure he knew almost every move that Harry made when he was out of sight.

Harry was through with doing things that were supposedly 'for his own good' if he didn't agree, especially without any reason or even his own input. Choices had been denied him almost his entire life. He was an adult now and could make his own decisions, the Headmaster would just have to accept that, and as much as he could manage, Harry would make sure the man meddled in his life as little as possible.

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A/N: Everyone give a big round of applause to my friend Don who not only gave me a router, but also took 3 hours installing the stubborn thing after it refused to work properly. Don I love you and I am pretty sure some of my readers love you too. You are awesome.

There will be a second celebratory post as soon as I can finish up this last scene in it. The break-in was only the first of many ways RL came round to bite me in the arse this past month, and a writing deprived Cody is not a mentally healthy Cody. Hopefully there are no more interruptions, everyone keep your fingers crossed.


	7. Bonds and Promises

A/N: Whoo hoo for updates! And Happy 4th of July to all my USA readers! be safe while blowing things up!

Chapter 7 warnings: Minor2, slight BDSM themes, AR

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Chapter 7: Bonds and Promises

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They approached the dungeons with his head of house right beside him, they were 15 minutes late, Severus would NOT be pleased. As he knocked on the classroom door there was a growling 'Enter!" and Harry spared a glare for McGonagall. Severus Snape running on minimal sleep and having someone be late, especially if he'd had something planned for them to do, would probably put the Potion's master in a sour mood for the rest of the day. Harry knew Severus had seen McGonagall beside him since the man was glaring and sneering at him as he growled out: "Potter when I said to show up at half past one I meant half past one, not quarter to two!"

"Severus, it is entirely mine and the headmaster's fault that he's late. Albus wanted to see him and I happened to spot him in the hallway. He did tell me he had detention with you, I didn't think it would make him this late though, I apologize."

"Minerva, he's late enough, we'll talk later." The Potions Master sneered coldly.

The Transfiguration Professor sighed and left with a roll of her eyes. Severus continued to glare at him even after the door had clicked shut and locked behind him. "Take your seat Mr. Potter." Harry waved his wand and set sound muffling charms against the walls and door before sliding into his seat.

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't my idea. What was I supposed to say? 'No thanks, tell Dumbledore we can chat after dinner tonight, I'd much rather go down for my detention with Snape than have the headmaster offer me a lemon drop?' He didn't today, that was creepy. Didn't have the all knowing eye twinkle of doom either. For a second I was worried it was someone under polyjuice."

"What did he want?" Severus asked, still sounding irritated.

"To try and snoop out my lover's name. I didn't tell him. He also asked me something funny. He asked me about the rumors, and then wanted to know if I was sure it was an engagement ring, then looked relieved when I told him it was. I think he's going barmy."

Severus sighed and the glare relaxed a bit, but didn't fully go away. "He went barmy years ago."

"Yeah, but why would he ask if it was an engagement ring after I already told him that I was engaged?"

It was hard to catch, but Severus' shoulders stiffened slightly and that made Harry worry a bit.

"Severus?"

His lover regained perfect control immediately and Harry wanted to sigh, it was so hard to read Severus whenever he closed himself up in his shell like this. The next words surprised him though.

"Because the ring on your hand is not an engagement ring Harry."

"It's not? Wait, so we're NOT getting married?" Something felt tight in Harry's chest at that thought but he tried not to let those old doubts well up.

The potions master looked at him incredulously. "Of course we are getting married! We could get married today if my entire family wouldn't take personal insult at not being invited to the wedding. No matter how much I hate big noisy gatherings, we have to go through the whole expensive, pompous ceremony just to make sure they leave us alone afterwards if nothing else. What had Albus' robes in a twist is because that ring on your hand is a bonding ring Harry."

"Bonding ring? What, is that the gay wizards version of marriage or something?"

"Why would there be different versions- ugh Muggles. No, nothing of the sort. Go ahead, try taking off the ring."

Harry gave his lover a strange look, but took hold of the band and tugged. At first nothing happened, the ring wouldn't even budge, and then as he pulled harder and it moved the slightest fraction up his finger, he was overwhelmed with a desperate soul wrenching feeling of despair and loss. His heart was aching, tears literally sprang into his eyes for no reason and he heard accusing voices in his head calling him betrayer, Bond-breaker, deceiver, unworthy. He gasped and let go, and the pain stopped and the voices went silent.

"What the hell was that?"

"That's what will happen if you try to break the bond you willingly accepted. It would be different if I had betrayed you and you removed it. Those voices would probably say something much different to you then. The only way it will come off painlessly is if I release you from the bond and remove the ring myself. The same holds true for me."

"But I didn't give you a ring." Harry said confusedly.

"That doesn't mean I don't have the pair. I can't wear it yet for obvious reasons, but in the meantime, this will do." Severus held up a familiar silver coin amulet on a rather handsome chain that he had tucked beneath his robes. "Only until we can be together openly of course."

"Alright, but besides the never-take-your-ring-off bit is bonding any different from regular marriage?"

"It's a completely separate entity. Bonding is an ancient practice, and used for any number of things. Marriages, servants, even parents at times. Each bond is different depending on the need and situation, and bonding means just what it sounds like, you are bound into your promise.

Ours would be considered a Love, or Marriage Bond. The rings are the physical representation of the bond and have extremely old magic sealed into them, that magic is used to imprint things I want and expect from you into it and when you accepted my ring you bound yourself into accepting those terms, and promised to uphold them with your entire self. If you try to do something against one of the terms your ring will let you know, and if you intentionally try to break your word... well you have already seen what happens."

Harry felt a little hurt by this, didn't Severus trust him to keep his word without forcing him into doing it? The ring he wore and had loved receiving now felt rather tight and tainted, part of Harry wanted to take it off right then and wash his hands, and there was a dull ache in his chest.

"You- you forced me into a magical bond?"

"No, like most old magic it's not something you can force onto another person, they have to willingly accept the bond, and you did. How is it my fault that you didn't ask what you were agreeing to?"

"But did you have to trick me?"

Severus stared at him steadily and raised an eyebrow. "Trick you? And how did I do that?"

Harry realized that sneaky though the man was, Severus wouldn't intentionally do something to hurt him, and Harry was the one person Severus had never lied to because he could just be himself around Harry, no pretense or explanation needed. So if that wasn't it then why not just tell him- and suddenly Harry wanted to smack himself in the head. Severus knew Harry would have said 'yes' to everything he wanted the whole time, not telling him immediately was probably his little way of getting back at Harry for not pushing Lavender away, and reminding him again that in the Wizarding World he should always ask questions, and never assume anything is what it seems.

"Okay I take it back, you are distinctly NOT sexy when you are jealous. But I get it okay? No taking things at face value or kissing other people even if they started it and took me completely by surprise. I swear I'll hex them into oblivion next time just to preserve the chastity of my lips. So will you please stop being pissy now and tell me what exactly I agreed to?"

"The things that are most important to me. Fidelity, honesty, respect, honor, and your safety so that you don't send me into an earlier grave than the one I've already signed up for."

"Noticed there was no mention of love or affection in there."

The potions Master rolled his eyes in exhasperation. "Demanding your love and affection through a magical bond would hardly be a wise decision, not only could it backfire in several terrible ways that would all most likely lead to disaster and resentment, but anytime we would so much as fight, it would cause you pain or worse for not keeping to the terms. I want my spirited, hot tempered lover, not a mindless love slave, thank you very much."

"So wait, when Voldemort attacks me again the ring's going to zap me?"

"No, the next time you think it's a good idea to try to sneak off to the Department of Mysteries in the middle of the night with all your little friends because you think The Dark Lord is attacking your godfather, the ring will 'zap you' as you put it. I made sure it would only react if you went off seeking trouble, not if trouble came to find you. Otherwise you would never get a moment's rest."

"I said I was sorry! And at least you got away from Umbridge long enough to call Shaklebolt to summon the aurors, otherwise who the heck knows what might have happened."

"Things I try to not think about. Your eternal Devil's Luck aside, you need watching Mr. Potter, and since I have a vested interest in your future, I don't mind using something that allows me to do so at all times. It doesn't just bind you to your promise, it empathically lets me know if you are in danger, if you need me, and though sappy and unnecessary, also when you are thinking of me or want me nearby. And if you ever wish to take it that far it can also tie our lives together with the proper Trueheart Ceremony."

"Trueheart ceremony? What's that do?"

"The couples' lives join, combining their collective lifetimes, in exchange for knowing and accepting their own mortality. For the day someone takes that bond they take the responsibility of the other's death. When one dies, the other dies at the exact same time. In olden times it was considered a mercy for people deeply in love, so that a surviving partner wouldn't have to grieve or be forced into another marriage, and also a way to prove that wives waiting for their husbands who were soldiers or travelers, even if lost, were not truly dead.  
I have always been a traditionalist, and admit I am rather fond of the custom, but it has mostly fallen out of fashion nowadays, since they repealed the law stating that a year and a day after losing your spouse you had to be betrothed again, and no more than a year after that you had to be remarried. Bonding rings used to be refered to as 'The Bonds of Love', and Trueheart Ceremonies were the original definition of joining mind, body, and soul. But as I said, it would be up to you if we ever took it that far."

"You- you'd be willing to do that for me?" Harry asked, wondering if Severus knew just how terrified he was of winning this war only to be left all alone at the end of it, or having to watch Severus get killed and then be left on his own with no clue how to possibly move on, and knowing that he probably couldn't.

"Harry, I'm not only over twenty three years older than you, but you seem to be more of fate's favored child than myself. Unless something happens to drastically change that there is very little chance of me outliving you. You would be the one more at risk, especially with the life we lead. While the longevity seems appealing, I doubt that we would be able to reap the benefits of it. You could even think of it like a failsafe, if we are found out they can't very well torture one of us to death to extract information from the other one."

"But what if something went wrong and Voldemort wins? I couldn't bear-"

"If the Dark Lord does somehow win and kills you while I'm somehow left alive from NOT blowing my cover to rush in and defend you, then you'd still be doing me a favor, I would rather be dead than have to pretend to be his devoted follower the rest of my days."

"But you could still fight-"

"To what point and purpose? Life may be precious, but I am not a leader or motivator of men. My loyalties are questionable at best, and to be completely honest, aside from you and a select few others, the whole world could go to hell and I wouldn't care. I am a survivor Harry, not a hero, if he took over the world I would keep up my charade just to save my own skin unless I could find a way to escape and hide, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Besides, I made you a promise and I fully intend to keep it."

Harry smiled at the memory of having woken up the summer after fourth year from nightmares of Cedric and the graveyard, only to find Severus holding him in the Dursley's home. Severus had been on guard duty that day, and when he had been worried at no one having seen th boy since he had arrived three weeks ago, had decided to keep watch from the tree near Harry's bedroom while disillusioned. He'd not only witnessed how Harry had been locked inside like a prisoner, but was also being fed through a cat flap, and only let out twice a day to use the toilet. Severus told him later he had almost murdered every single one of his guards himself.

Only a few hours later the front door had unlocked and slid open, the family found themselves immedietely falling asleep during their evening television after a strange powder drifted over them, and using the keys he'd found on the larger whale's belt once they were all unconscious, Severus had set about freeing the Dursley's prisoner. Harry had been completely asleep and hadn't even known Severus was there, let alone heard him enter the room, but the potion's master had definitely heard and understood Harry's nightmare. For the first time he could ever remember, Harry woke up from something bad while being comforted by an adult. And it was the same adult who only weeks before he had been in this same position with. Harry had clung to that familiarity, and Severus hadn't pulled away.

Minutes later, Severus, (still Snape to him at the time) had asked him only one thing "Is this room where you have been since arriving back?" and Harry, a bit confused on why it mattered, merely nodded. Without another word Snape had gathered the boy's things and flooed the both of them to the Burrow from the Dursley's living room, intentionally leaving as much soot on the immaculate carpet as possible. Harry had seen his potions professor leave a note in his Aunt Petunia's hand before they left, and Harry had never asked what it said. Upon arriving, Snape had simply told Mrs. Weasley that Harry hadn't had dinner yet, and then sent him off to the kitchens with a dose of dreamless sleep draught in his hand. He had found a letter in his pocket the next day before going down to breakfast.

_ 'I have informed the Headmaster that the Dursleys aren't fit to care for goldfish, let alone someone who is supposed to be their beloved kin, and provided him supporting evidence of my claim. In my distemper at the negligence and utter blindness of your other guards, who somehow believe not only in the non-existant utter good of all humanity, but also that anything short of a full death eater attack or an assault by the Dark Lord himself could qualify as harmful to someone, that I may have also alluded something similar to 'The Dark Lord would treat a stray dog better', and knowing how well secrets are kept from prying ears among these people, no doubt everyone has heard by now. So be prepared for an abundance of unneccesary Molly-coddling and worried, fretful glances without anyone saying anything because they are afraid of upsetting your delicate sensabilities while they force feed you 6 meals a day to try and make it up to you. _  
_ I don't say or offer this lightly so I expect you to keep this to yourself. I understand what you have been through, and though I will not elaborate on my past, or coddle you for yours, I know that such experiences leave their marks on people. So if you need something besides shallow pity from people who are mostly acting out of a capacity to make themselves feel better for not having realized the truth, you can contact me via owl (not your own for obvious reasons) at my personal quarters at Hogwarts. I trust you know the meaning of the word discretion, and realize that such a correspondence, as well as this letter, does not need to be shared with others, especially your friends or the headmaster. _  
_ I once made a promise to your mother to protect you, and perhaps I have not lived up to that promise as well as I should have. So now I will also make a promise to you. You have my word that should you need me, I will be there for you till the very end. Perhaps together we can make sure you survive both the Dark Lord's and the Headmaster's insanity. S.S.'_

That letter was when Harry had started falling for the potions master, and though he hadn't recognised the true cause for his attraction, Severus' promise had still struck a deep chord in him. Snape never said things lightly, he didn't mince words and certainly didn't promise something he didn't intend to follow through on. But most of all he was the only adult who wasn't trying to avoid the subject of the Dursleys or pretend that it hadn't happened. He had come straight out and said that what had happened was wrong, that they had all fucked up and that he couldn't make everything perfect, but he was willing to do better and make sure nothing like it ever happened again. Harry started corresponding with his potions master every day that summer, and shortly after term started again was when he finally was able to admit it to himself and told Severus how he felt.

Knowing his lover was no longer mad at him despite the scowl on his face, he got out of his seat and went and curled up in Severus' lap. His Potions Master would never admit it, but Harry thought he just might like holding him as much as Harry loved to be held.

"Still need you. Will you kiss me now?"

It was a small, indulgent smile he caught, but Severus leaned down and kissed him nonetheless. It was gentle, soothing, and reminded Harry of the night before, when he'd lain on his stomach and Severus had trailed these same kisses all over his back. He swore to himself again that he'd never reveal the more tender side of his lover to anyone. This was a side of Severus that was his and his alone, he wasn't going to share it with anybody.

"Did me being so late spoil any plans?"

"No, I merely thought that since both of us are only going to be doing this once, perhaps you'd like to tell me what you would be interested in for a wedding or a bonding ceremony. Favorite colors or a possible religious denomination if you have one and such. Like it or not we have quite the wedding to plan, and if it isn't elaborate enough for my family's expectations they will begin meddling in order to make sure we are doing things properly in their eyes, so the sooner we start planning this monstrosity the better. Besides, I know you have your youth to aide in a fast recovery, however I only got four hours of sleep this morning, and as much as I love to terrorize those who are deserving of it with a bad mood, I am all too willing to take it easy for the rest of the day."

"Mmm sounds marvelous. You know I think there is a bunch of cushions in front of your fireplace that has my name written all over it. But do we have to plan the wedding and bonding separately? Can't we do them at the same time?"

"We could, yes. It isn't necessary to include a bonding ceremony in a wedding, in fact most couples don't, it's usually done later on. But I think we know each other better than that don't we?" Severus asked, slowly standing up and taking Harry by the hand to lead him towards the wall. Harry smiled and nodded.

The secret passage to Severus' personal quarters was hidden behind a large bookcase that slid further into the wall to reveal the tunnel that it was hiding about three feet back on the right hand side. Not even Dumbledore knew it was there, because he had built it after becoming a teacher there, and it was heavily warded against discovery. In fact, the best part was it had a forgetting effect on everyone who wasn't keyed into the wards. If you saw the bookcase move back and especially if you saw the tunnel, it was the trigger for the hex and you would forget you had seen anything as soon as you looked away. Harry wasn't keyed in to them, and not because Severus didn't trust him, but because it amused him too much to see Harry's reaction everytime.

"Wicked! Finally decided to show me the secret passage huh?"

"You've actually been through here several times before."

"No way! I would have remembered."

"Hmm. Well later on remind me to key you into the wards so you can use it."

The door ahead of them opened and they stepped through the illusionary back wall of the smaller, secondary fireplace in the sitting room. Harry turned around, but the tunnel was already gone, and once more it had worked its magic.

"How'd we get to your rooms already?"

"Through the fireplace of course."

"But why do we always take the floo? Aren't you ever going to show me where that hidden tunnel is?"

"I apologise, remind me when you leave to show you where it is." Severus said while silently smirking to himself. He didn't know why something so small and insignificantly petty brought him pleasure, but he wouldn't deny that it did.

"I'll remember. Now, where are those cushions?"

Harry practically made a nest of the pile of big thick cushions on the sheep skin rug in front of the living rooms' much larger fireplace, a favorite and oft used spot of Harry's when he was doing homework, while Severus brought out Harry's simple black leather collar and four meter lead. The engraved silver plate bolted to the collar simply read 'Beloved'.

Severus' had given Harry that collar on his birthday a year ago, and there was nothing from Severus that he had treasured more. "What would you like for your birthday?" "To somehow be visibly marked as yours, but everything I can think of would probably put you in danger or still be another year away, so I won't push. Do you think you could find a way for us to have a real date? Like dinner, walk in the moonlight, hand holding, kiss goodnight kinda thing, or would it be too risky? I just want to feel like any other normal couple for a bit, but not if it puts us in danger." "I hope you realize that you are a romantically sentimental sap." "I can live with that if it gets me a real date with you that ends in a kiss." "I make no promises Harry, but I'll see what I can do."

Harry was at the Burrow for his birthday that year and Hedwig had flown in that morning with a note. _'Happy Birthday Harry. 1330 PT IC NW OTH N2WDSX. N25MX E35MX N135MX, A,T."_

Harry knew the whole thing would have been almost complete gibberish to anyone else, but he and Severus had been using an initial, numeric, phonetic code for awhile now. It told him at 1:30 he was to meet the potions master for personal time and escape using the invisibility cloak. Northwest over a hill and into the woods he would find a mark, and use that to follow the rest of the metered directions and marks to an oak tree since Severus's wand was ash and Harry's was holly or 'thorn', leaving only Oak to complete the Kipling code, as well as let him know that it really was Severus sending the note.

Severus had surprised him with a picnic and they had wandered in the seclusion of the woods for hours just talking (Harry had known the moonlit part would have been a stretch even for Severus) and Severus did hold his hand and give him a kiss at the end when he gave Harry his birthday gift. Of course Harry had then pounced the man and practically kissed him senseless once he opened it, but either way, Harry had gotten his end of date kiss.

He knew the man rarely said how he felt, but Severus' actions were so much better than words could ever be. The young man eagerly let Severus put the collar on him and then smiled as Severus clipped the end of the lead onto a hook at the base of the mantle before bending down to kiss him. They spent the day quietly, Severus mostly sitting on the couch that faced the fireplace with Harry resting on the cushioned floor near his hip, well within hair petting range, as they talked and discussed possible things for their wedding and bonding ceremony.

Barely two hours into their plans and Harry leaned over Severus, insistently kissing the man until he took charge and overwhelmed Harry completely with tongue, teeth, and warm, demanding lips. Harry then pulled Severus down onto the cushions with him, longing to feel the mans' weight and strength and presence all around him. As always, Severus seemed to know exactly what Harry needed. He held Harry tightly and tucked his face against his neck. Harry just melted in that strong safe place, all the tension flowing straight out of his body as he breathed in the scent of his lover and once more let his mind wander away to that place where only Severus existed or mattered.

"I love you Severus." He murmured.

"You look like you're falling asleep."

"No I'm not, I'm just...cuddling, and resting my eyes. You kept me up late. It was worth it though."

Severus kissed the top of his head and whispered; "You're safe, you're home. I'm here, Rest."

Harry dropped off to sleep not even five minutes later, and Severus spent the rest of that quiet time lounging on the cushions beside the couch with a cup of tea and Harry curled up against his side while he wrote out the begining plans of the wedding, and added other suggestions, thoughts and inputs as they came to him.

Harry, while connected to two large and powerful pureblood families, didn't really act as an heir or influential member to either one of them. The Potter line in particular ended with Harry Potter himself, and whatever familial friendships, alliances and business aquaintences James Potter or his parents had possessed while alive were not influential enough to carry over to the son. Since Sirius Black still insisted on plaguing this world with his presence, Harry didn't have the responsibilities of the Black family heir either, even though he knew Black had named Harry his successor. Unless of course the mutt ended up getting his name cleared and still found a suitable match that bore him children. Such an action would have caused an uproar among Severus' own family. It was always a bad idea to name an outsider as your heir when you still might have children of your own.

Severus however was not so fortunate. His father may have been a particularly unpleasant muggle, but until then his mother's liniage was nearly as pure as they could get, all while avoiding the inbreeding that seemed to plague the majority of magical Britain. Mostly because his family had prefered to marry foreigners for at least the past six generations instead of their second and third cousins. Severus alone held the last heir title of that particular branch of the Prince family tree, and it wasn't an easy position to be in especially since inheritance wise he was one of the poorest Prince relations still alive, mostly due to his father's constant bouts of drunkeness, nearly endless debts, and gambling.

Severus' family was vast and influential, mostly dwelling on the Continent in Italy, France and Germany instead of Britain, and even though he was considered a nearly disgraced half blood bastard of a witless philandering muggle drunkard, he had been fortunate that most of their vitrol for his birth had landed squarely on his father's head instead of his own. As it was, he had to handle this wedding very carefully in order to stay in their good graces. He had to not only make sure to invite everyone who would be personally insulted if he didn't invite them, such as his Aunt Isabella Fortuna Tino-Prince, but also those who would be insulted not to be invited once they found out who he was marrying, like his Great-Uncle, The Baron Noctus Reginald Prince, all while trying to keep it from leaking out to the press, Dumbledore, or Voldemort's forces that he was going to not only marry, but also enter into two irreversable lifebonds with the infamous Boy-Who-Lived. It was enough to give him a headache.

As much as they both hated Harry's fame, in this one case it could serve them very well to help Harry find a place among the family he was marrying into. Severus' family had made it very clear for years that when he settled down he was to make a match of quality in order to keep them happy with him. He knew their definition of that was a pureblood, even though they had never come right out and said so. However Severus knew his family well, they would be all too happy to overlook Harry's half-blood status in lieu of his public status. Harry might not realize that he was the wizarding world's hottest commodity, but everyone else in the world did. His family wouldn't care one lick about bloodlines once they realized he had single handedly made Harry Potter their newest relative. Harry would be welcomed with open arms, and once he got adjusted to them he'd discover that most of them were quite decent people worth knowing, once you got past their personal clouds of over sixty-seven generations worth of Prince familial pride and self importance. As a comparison The Malfoys only had fourty-one.

He knew Harry had always wanted a family, and as insufferable as a few of them were, Harry would find love and acceptance among them easily enough. Severus knew for a fact that no less than three of his aunts that were all getting on in years and childless, would all but try to adopt Harry as their own son and heir, something he might want to warn him about... unless he wanted to watch Harry's reaction.

He was writing out a tentative guest list and letting his fingers trail through Harry's hair, when the tingling flare of warmth let him know he was being summoned. The familiar cold mask immediately fell into place and he rose silently to change, his wand tip already at his temple to remove incriminating memories that could give away either his true loyalties or the fact he was Harry's lover.

"Potter." He snapped from the bedroom door as he pulled on his cloak and tucked the white mask in his robes, and Harry immediately woke up with a worried look. "Time to go." Harry merely nodded and unclasped the lead and the collar from around his neck. He made to place the collar back in it's box but Severus placed a hand over his. "Keep hold of it. Until I return."

It was a small, wan smile, but Severus would take what he could get. He made to turn and lead them both through the hidden tunnel, when Harry caught hold of his hand. As he turned to look at him, Harry placed his hand over Severus' eyes and kissed him. "Be safe."

Severus nodded, and then ushered them through the false floo and back into the potions classroom. Harry was clutching tightly to the collar that he had put in his pocket, and Severus handed him his detention slip. "Eat dinner and then stay in your common room, I will send word when I return." Harry sat down at his desk as Severus swept from the room. He didn't have the heart to tell Harry that covering his lover's eyes when he kissed him wouldn't prevent a physical memory from being formed, and as he walked down the hall with purposeful intent, he pulled the entire afternoon out of his mind and placed it into a crystal vial that he banished into a safe with his other memories before going to let the headmaster know he was leaving. Memory or not, it was enough to know that Harry cared, yet wouldn't try and stop him from doing what he thought was right. The young man's sense of honor was what always convinced Severus that no matter how difficult, or who might disapprove, he had made the right choice.

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A/N: Hey there! There's a second post to this one, enjoy, I love all of you and thank you for your patience.


	8. Dancing With Death

A/N: This is the second chapter of a double post. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 8 warnings: Minor 2, AR.

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Chapter 8: Dancing with Death

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He was one of the last to arrive, but it was something the Dark Lord always forgave him, being as he had to maintain the act of spy and couldn't always leave immediately when summoned. Dumbledore thought Severus was his spy and Voldemort was convinced of the same thing, Severus had even used that information to better gain Voldemort's trust. In truth he had loyalty for neither one. These days his true motivation was to know what both sides were plotting so that he could best protect himself and Harry from the fallout. It was practically an art form to know how much viable information to give each side so they remained pleased with him and focused on each other, keeping Harry as merely a secondary notion. This was much harder to do with the Dark Lord since he was fixated on the boy.

Voldemort was speaking with Fenir when he arrived, just enough time to do a quick mental sweep of the room. His insides chilled as he realized Lucius was planning on telling The Dark Lord about Potter's mysterious engagement, which meant that Voldemort would personally question him for more information, unless he managed to report his findings first, and make it seem a reasonably new development with nothing solid to report on yet but that he would keep on looking.

"Ahh my dear Severus, so good of you to be able to join us. Come, talk with me, it has been awhile since we have spoken. I trust all is well with the old man and his band of misfits?"

Severus followed Voldemort into a side parlor and remained completely calm as the door locked behind them. Maybe luck was on his side today.

"Yes my lord, they are currently trying to figure out a pattern to your plan, in hopes they may come to understand it better and even try to interpret it so that they can anticipate your moves. That has been the basis of the last three order meetings. Dumbledore in his senility is still determined to play this out like some demented game of chess."

"Ahh well it's a good thing we aren't playing War then isn't it? Tell me Severus, what else is he planning?"

"They are still taking an aggressively neutral stance, waiting for your next move and trying to get aid from the press and government, but the Prophet isn't very happy with the old fool at the moment, and as usual the Ministry is completely ineffectual and refusing to do anything more than to officially stand against you and your forces on paper, they have yet to take any sort of action. It's the way of bureaucrats. There were whispers about forging some sort of a magically enhanced weapon, but that information came from Mad-Eye, so who knows how accurate it is. If he had his way we'd be battling like savages with bows, arrows and longswords."

Voldemort actually laughed at that and Severus felt relieved. Dark Lords in merry moods rarely shoot the messenger.

"Oh Severus I do so enjoy your sense of humor. And the boy, have they been training him in secret as we feared?"

"By all appearances he is still ignorant and untrained. There is no pattern to his comings and goings so if there are scheduled meetings between him and the headmaster they are errant and sloppy. I have started giving him more detentions then normal in the hopes I will disrupt their plans and Dumbledore will excuse him as he often does so that I will have a starting point. But Dumbledore has all but left him to fend for himself in the hopes of letting him maintain some form of childhood innocence, and the idiot is using his ample free time to ingest as many chocolate frogs as possible, as well as to ignore his classes. The old man may as well have painted a target on his chest for me to grab him, although the set up is so obvious it makes me question if something more isn't actually going on that only he and the boy know about. It could easily be a farce or a trap, so I am hesitant to test it because it would likely give me away."

"No Severus, make no move, I need your eyes and ears in Dumbledore's camp far too much. Is there anything more to report from the school?"

"Actually there is. It's unconfirmed as of yet though, so I was going to wait to report on anything until I had gathered more information, but I wanted you to be aware of it. Harry Potter has declared he is engaged."

The gleam of desire in Voldemort's eyes was unmistakable, this information was extremely valuable to him if it was true. "To whom?"

"Therein lies the mystery my Lord, he is refusing to say a word about them, but wears a ring on his hand, says he's engaged, and showed up in the Great Hall this morning with either hickeys or a rather severe case of dragon pox all over his neck. Even his friends looked shocked and questioned him about it when they first heard."

"What do you think? Do you believe it's true?"

"There's too many variables for me to judge properly, but it almost feels like a red herring meant to distract us from whatever he and Dumbledore are planning. The timing is too perfect and besides it's not like Potter to keep quiet about anything, especially from his friends, and the day this supposed engagement was revealed there was an inconsistency and a grand show put on at breakfast to validate it." At this point he handed the Dark Lord a vial with a subtly modified memory, having merely changed the look Granger had given him to something briefer and more calculating, as if seeing if he or others at the head table were buying it. "You'll notice the mudblood ends up kicking the Weasley brat to get him to stick to the script."

"So you believe it is a hoax?"

"It could be, there are certainly strange inconsistancies, since his last known girlfriend was years ago and lasted less than a month, but all the same I was planning on still paying attention to it just in case it turned out to be true. I'll let you know when I learn more."

"Excellent Severus, you have done well."

"What information do you wish me to report to Dumbledore? He knows I am here tonight and he will ask what I have learned."

"There is nothing being said tonight that will aid the old man, you can tell him everything. It will only help you maintain his trust and make him think you are being truthful with him, when really you are truthful with me, aren't you Severus?"

Severus managed to hold down a shudder. "Yes my lord, I am truthful with you always, I have no secrets from you."

"Look at me Severus."

He didn't hesitate to meet the Dark Lord's eyes, knowing that any damning evidence had been removed or buried so deep even Severus barely knew what or where it was. The intrusion was swift and sharp, But he didn't flinch or pull away and he didn't resist. The torture of bullies from his school days, grading papers, sneering as the headmaster once again offered him a lemon drop. The last order meeting where he presented his latest information that he'd gathered from Voldemort's forces, the Dark Lord paid particularly close attention to that one, but found nothing to spark his anger. On and on he pressed through his mind, searching for deceits or lies and finding nothing but the sneakiness he was already aware of. The wrench away from his thoughts was so sudden and sharp he fell to his knees gasping harshly.

"No you don't, do you Severus? Come, the others are waiting."

The Dark Lord was nearly to the door by the time Severus had managed to stand up again and catch his breath.

"Milord, wait, I have one last thing I need to discuss with you in private, so the others won't question my loyalties for asking such a thing in their midst."

"What is it?"

"Dumbledore is getting suspicious that I'm not telling him everything again. I need something to prove my loyalty to his cause so he doesn't start trying to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. Information is not enough for him anymore, he wants actual proof, and I thought of something that would cement me solidly in Dumbledore's graces for a very long time, but it would come with a small loss to our side."

"What kind of loss? What are you suggesting?" Voldemort growled.

"Wormtail. Give me Wormtail to betray and hand over to the old man. He's served his purpose and has almost no use to us, but the other side would consider his capture a major win."

"Pettigrew? Surely you jest with me Severus. How could he possibly be important to anybody?"

"Black, Milord. They would use him to clear Sirius Black's name. Potter would also have the man responsible for betraying his parents, not to mention the Ministry would be up in arms about having wrongly accused and falsely imprisoned the rightful heir to one of the oldest pureblood families left without so much as a fair trial. Once Black was free the boy would most likely be allowed to be adopted by his godfather and move in with Black at their headquarters so I could watch him more easily. Strategically Wormtail is also a risk since he owes Potter a Life Debt and both of them know it. He would normally be useless to us, but they are all sentimental fools, and that's what rules their judgement. If I willingly hand him over, every last one of them will have no cause to doubt me and it won't even occur to them that they should."

"So they have mistaken a Pawn for a Rook... and what a valuable little pawn he could prove to be one last time. I must admit that Wormtail has done nothing but wear on my patience ever since he completed his task, and he's useless at pretty much everything else I've given him to do. Very well Severus, you may have your sacrificial rat. I will assign you both to a dangerous mission that could risk capture. It will come as no great surprise then when that's exactly what happens to him."

"Thank you My Lord."

"I require something of great value to myself in return though Severus."

"Of course My lord, you have but to ask. What may I bring you?"

"Your extensive skills. I have discovered a potions book I require you to translate, and then I will probably want you to brew some of them in quantity."

"It would be my honor."

"Good."

Voldemort opened the door and Severus followed three steps behind like a good little servant should. He knew the inner circle disliked his close confidence with the Dark Lord and were suspicious of what they discussed in private, but they also knew better than to ask. The inner circle walked to the large table in the dining room. The Dark Lord stood in front of his throne-like chair and indicated to his right. "Severus." Severus took his seat at the place of honor with a demure bow of the head. Bellatrix huffed angrily under her breath but sat to the Dark Lord's left and the others took their places, Lucius near the end and Fenir at the foot, closest to the lesser members standing at the far end of the room, where Voldemort could see them best and Fenir could instill the most fear with his presence.

The meeting was generalized, filled with reports of death eater raids, muggle baitings and a few actual kills of those who had gotten in the way. According to McNair the vampires were still refusing to join, but Voldemort wasn't fool enough to take on beings who considered humans a foodsource just for something as silly as retribution.

Severus winced as Lucius, still hoping to regain some good standing by providing new information, stood up and gave his own report. He truly wasn't trying to undermine the man, they had in truth been good friends over the years, but he couldn't let Lucius make the Dark Lord question him too deeply or suspect him of anything.

Lucius went on about things happening in the ministry, people who were now on their side and those who would bend to bribes. He was doing just fine until the end when he brought up what Voldemort had already been made aware of. "Also my lord, regarding the Potter boy, he is now apparently engaged to be either married or bonded. It's caused quite a scandal around Hogwarts the last few days."

The Dark Lord did not react as Lucius had intended, he merely leaned forward and placed his arms on the table with his hands folded. "And who pray tell is he engaged to Lucius?"

"I don't know my lord, but as soon as I find out I'll tell you."

"Lucius, if you don't have viable information then keep your mouth shut and stop gossiping like an old woman at a tea social just so you can hear yourself talk."

The others laughed but Severus remained stoic. He knew it was no easy position Lucius had been in for more than two years now ever since he had fallen from grace in Voldemort's eyes and Draco had failed in his task the year before. Severus himself was still under an unbreakable vow, but thankfully it had been vague enough that he didn't have to act on it. Narcissa in her panic over Draco's safety had failed to truly think strategically about what she was saying and had left him with more than one way out. "And should it prove necessary... if it seems Draco will fail... will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

Intent counted a lot when directing almost every other vow, but an Unbreakable Vow was geared towards specifics, not vague generalities. Narcissa had never specified which deed the Dark Lord had charged Draco with, and as such his vague offers to help and assist Draco had been more than enough to satisfy the terms. It also didn't hurt that he hadn't been present when the opportunity finally arose for Draco to point his wand at the Headmaster. How could he have judged how any situation seemed to be going if he wasn't even there?

So Draco had failed while Severus was elsewhere, and had surrendered to Dumbledore after the headmaster had immobilized him. The old man had put Draco into protective custody and gotten him out of the country that very night. For once Severus had been glad of the headmaster's nosy nature which allowed him to have connections all over the world. No one except Dumbledore himself and possibly two aurors knew where the boy was now, and that wouldn't change until the Dark Lord was defeated, thanks to the large bounty Voldemort had placed on Draco's head.

"While I admit that I am extremely intrugued to know who the boy is engaged to, I want no more talk of it until there is physical proof of their identity set before me, is that understood?"

"Yes My Lord." They all chimed obediently.

"Severus, I have a mission I need you to perform. There is a certain item of mine that has fallen into the hands of Mad-Eye-Moody and I want it retrieved. To do so you will probably need to sneak into several of his hideouts and quite possibly his own home as well. The utmost discression is needed since Mad-Eye hasn't realized what exactly it is that he has found and I do not want him to realize its value. It should be easiest for you since you are meant to be friends and comrades in arms, however I will allow you to take one other Death Eater with you if you think you should need it, for there is quite a risk involved."

He glanced around the table, 'looking' for who to take with him. Bellatrix looked murderous, but she wouldn't have known stealth if it came up and bit her on the arse. McNair looked interested, he and Mad-Eye had a history of bad blood and he was probably looking for the opportunity for revenge, also not a good choice where stealth was concerned. Fenir could have been sneaky, but wouldn't have wanted to follow his orders. Lucius actually looked hopeful to be chosen and if this hadn't been a mission of betrayal he would have picked Lucius because they worked well together. One by one he glanced around the table until finally his eyes went to the person standing in the corner of the room, trying to hide himself in shadow.

"Wormtail."

The man winced and cringed when Severus said his name and tried to make himself seem smaller. Lucius actually looked rather hurt, but he ignored it. "Yes I think he'd be perfect for this. Wormtail you will accompany me in this task." Pettigrew hadn't looked so scared in a very long time.

"What?" Bellatix shrieked at him "Is this a joke? This item is important to our Lord and you would entrust Wormtail in helping to retrieve it?"

Severus continued as if he didn't even notice that she had lost her temper. "Yes Bella, and for several reasons. Our lord was able to regain a body and return to power because of Wormtail, so he knows how to be loyal, but I also need someone who will be able to be silent, stealthy and obey my orders without question. And besides, what other Death Eater can I place in my pocket and carry into Mad-Eye's house to look for something while I keep Moody distracted in the sitting room? Last time I checked no one else had become an animagi."

"You could just break into the place when he's not there and find it yourself!"

"And this is exactly why I am not choosing you Bella, you never learned the arts of thinking ahead or extreme stealth. Mad-Eye Moody is the most paranoid bastard on the planet, to the point that even his alarms have alarms. Breaking in would only put him on high alert and make him doubly suspicious of eveyone and everything he met, which would hinder my regular work. And if this item is not at the first place we looked, and we had to break into a second one, he would believe he was being targeted for something, which undoubtedly would cause him to move all of his hideouts and the item along with it. My task may take 10 times as long that way since then I would need to discover where all of them are. It is far easier to ask him face to face to meet with me in a secret location a few times and discuss some random things over tea and biscuits. His paranoia would never allow him to choose the same location twice. But if our Lord thinks it is a poor choice I will choose another."

"No Severus I think is a fine choice for the task assigned. And Bellatrix, you would do well to hold your tongue, you are testing my patience."

The meeting concluded soon after two new recruits joined the ranks by recieving their marks; Cassandra Stalins and William Weatherby. Neither of which he'd ever seen before and thankfully hadn't been his students. When the others disbanded, he and Wormtail stayed behind to recieve their detailed orders. The item to be retrieved was a black mirrored scrying bowl with silver runes on the rim. He didn't go into details on what made the supposed item special to him, and Severus wasn't really expecting him to since it probably didn't exist. The potions master told Wormtail that he would contact him as soon as he could arrange a meeting with Mad-Eye, and then left with a swish of robes. Lucius was at the apparition point waiting for him.

"Ah, Severus, can I keep you for awhile?"

"Of course Lucius, is everything all right?"

"I'm just wanting a drink and to have a friend join me. We haven't had the chance to catch up in awhile."

"As you wish. Hogsmeade?"

"That would be perfect, thank you."

Severus apparated first and stood aside as he waited for Lucius. When the pale haired aristocrat appeared beside him, he began to lead the way to the Three Broomsticks after having shrank the cloak and mask and hidden it in a pocket, and Lucius did the same. They were two blocks away when Lucius slipped them into an alley way, then to the outskirts of the village and into some trees. Once there he quickly placed them in a soundproofed and clouded privacy ward.

"I thought that drinks at the Broomsticks was uncharacteristic of you Lucius. What is it you really want to discuss?"

"Severus, you have always been my friend. My place in his graces is falling further and further behind. If I don't do something to redeem myself soon... It's getting far too dangerous, more than I ever thought it would be. He's even placed a bounty on Draco's head! I need your help, please. Either something to redeem myself or something to get my family to safety. I'm begging you, as my friend, help me."

"This is treason Lucius, I can't condone this." Part of the potion's master hoped that his old friend was finally seeing sense, but he wasn't willing to tip his hand in case he was wrong.

"Cut the bullshit pretenses Severus, I've known you since we were children! There has only been one side that you have ever been on and that is your own. I don't care whose side you end up betraying or what your agenda really is. Anyone stupid enough to take you at face value or to think they know everything about you deserves whatever they get. To me you have always just been a good friend that loves potions and hates children, and who shared the bunk next to mine for seven years. That's all I'll ever ask you to be. So Severus please, help my wife and I get out of this mess before we're murdered!"

"You would betray the Dark Lord?"

"Before he decides to murder me and my whole family, yes! Please tell me, did you play any part in getting Draco to safety?"

"No I didn't, and I do not know where he is. However I do know that he is safe." Part of Severus wanted to tell Lucius exactly how his son was doing, but even Dumbledore wasn't aware of the fact he'd been in contact with Draco just last week. It was already hard enough to sneak around the aurors as it was.

"Then you've-"

"I admit that we are friends Lucius, and comrades, however what you are asking me to do is to set myself in the direct path of the Dark Lord's anger in order to protect you, which is suicidal at best. Give me a few days, I will see if I can discover something of worth that you can present in order to redeem yourself. If I cannot, and if I decide to try and help you flee, you must follow my orders to the letter without hesitation no matter what I ask. Understood?"

"Yes. I understand. Thank you Severus, I-"

"I'm not making any promises Lucius, not yet. Wait for my post."

"Yes I will, and still, I thank you."

Severus let nothing show as he removed the barrier and resumed making his way to the Three Broomsticks.

"We had best get that drink before Wormtail catches up to us." He said stoically, hoping the rat wasn't getting even more suspicious than he usually was.

"You think he followed?"

"I know he did, but most likely assumed we went to the Hog's Head as if we would be less obvious there."

"I detest that rat, I wish he'd get himself caught in a mousetrap and be done with it already."

"Yes, well, all good things to those who wait." The Potions Master smirked, having invisioned something similarily appropriate when capturing Wormtail at last.

Madame Rosmerta was pleased to see Severus since he rarely made it down from the castle except when he was acting as chaperone on Hogsmeade weekends. She had always felt that he didn't take enough time to relax and enjoy life and was pleased to see him out with a friend. She wasn't quite as welcoming with Lucius, but then again his usual attitude didn't win him many friends. They sat at a booth in a secluded corner and shared snifters of brandy and firewhiskey. They talked of general things; the rise of taxes, the downfall of the educational system, the Ministry's lack of morals, estimated how much longer this deplorable war would continue, and the status of their respective families.

Severus knew that the longer he took the more that certain parties would worry about him, but Lucius and their personal rat couldn't be tipped off that he was in a hurry to be anywhere. He discretely poured doubles for Lucius every time he refilled his own, and it wasn't long before the aristocrat was deep into his cups while Severus was merely pleasantly warm. He had wanted Lucius to relax a bit though, the man was quickly worrying himself towards an ulcer.

"I should get you home before you splinch yourself in the attempt old friend." Severus said, helping the blond to his feet.

"Oh Severus don't be silly, I'm perfectly fine to-"

Lucius' words were cut off as he stumbled and Severus was forced to keep him upright.

"Yes of course. All the same I think I'd better floo you home." It didn't take long to make their way to the hearth burning away merrily on one side of the pub, and Severus fire called Narcissa first.

"Narcissa? Narcissa are you home?" It took a moment before the regal lady came sweeping into the sitting room in her dressing gown.

"Severus? Is everything alright?" her eyes slightly worried and her hand clenched at her neckline.

"Just fine. I tried to help Lucius relax after our appointment, and I'm afraid I may have helped him a bit too much. I don't want him to splinch himself apparating so will you catch him as I send him through?"

"I hope he hasn't made too big of a fool out of himself."

"Not at all, in fact it's the first I've seen him smile in a long time, so please don't be cross with him. I'll send him through now."

"Alright Severus, and thank you for taking care of him."

"It was my pleasure milady. Goodnight."

A moment and a pinch of floo powder later and Lucius was safely at home where he would hopefully sleep deeply and dreamlessly. Severus left the Three Broomsticks only moments later and headed through Hogsmeade to make his way back up to the castle. Wormtail was rather far behind but still following and just to spook the annoying rat he turned and fired a stream of poison green sparks towards the place where he was hiding. Neither man nor rat made another move towards him as he made his way back into the castle and locked himself inside. The trek up to Griffindor Tower was not exactly high on his list of pleasurable things to do while slightly buzzed, but he stopped by the Headmaster's tower on the way and let him know of his return, as well as his opinion of the decreased respect of a teacher's authority after being undermined by the headmaster in order to gossip like schoolgirls. He'd never seen Albus blush before, it was a novel experience.

Severus then used the teacher's password to gain access to Griffindor Tower and startled the three remaining students who were there, Harry being one of them. He ignored Harry since they weren't alone, yet the young man could obviously see he was fine, and made his way over to Minerva's door, banging harshly against it three times which she answered a moment later.

"It's later." He growled.

She sighed. "Indeed it is. Come in Severus, I'll put on some tea."

They spoke seriously for at least two hours, until his buzz was long gone and the clock said it was much later than it felt like. Severus said his goodbyes and was making his way out of the lurid gold and scarlet room when the last remaining Gryffindor approached him.

"Potter."

Harry held out a rolled scroll of parchment.

"It's the essay you wanted."

It was too public a place to let their act budge even a bit, but he did allow himself to feel Harry's fingers for the briefest of moments as he accepted the essay and stepped back through the portrait hole. In the safety and seclusion of his own room he unrolled the scroll and sure enough, Harry's collar was there in the middle. He placed it safely back in it's box then hid that in a secret compartment which resided in a hidden drawer beneath a false backing in his wardrobe.

Harry's 'essay' was more details about the wedding and bonding ceremony and one part stood out to Severus that actually made him laugh "I want daffodils and honeysuckle. You have to have flowers at a wedding right? Well I've always liked them and I don't care if they aren't a fancy 'wedding' flower like roses, I want normal, ordinary daffodils and honeysuckle, and your relatives can just deal with it. Oh and you know how they always have those pompous red carpets leading through a chapel to the altar? I hate those things, chapels too really. Couldn't we just have a nice grass path lined with ivy that's maybe speckled with some dandelions like any normal yard, or would that be pushing it with your side? Am I weird for liking weeds? Because I think dandelions smell good."

Severus knew that Harry wouldn't know a thing about the language of flowers, probably didn't even know there WAS a language of flowers. But Severus, perhaps because he was a potions master, and had studied every possible use and meaning of nearly every plant for over the past twenty years, was quite a fluent floriograph. Harry's choices couldn't have been more perfect for Harry, and Severus was determined that he'd find a way to let the young man have all of them. Since Harry loved the outdoors so much, and he himself would have no objections to it, perhaps an outdoor wedding could be arranged at the right time of year, and would help them both relax by being away from the structure and formality of a more traditional wedding.

His family also wouldn't object if he told them that he was doing all that he could to indulge Harry's ideas for a dream wedding either, in fact most of them would eat it right up and volunteer to help however they could. Severus smirked, using Harry as a buffer to help him keep the family in line would be perfect, and no doubt the Maurader scion in Harry would enjoy the challenge of tricking people into doing what the couple wanted, all while making them believe they were meddling to their hearts content and making sure it was a 'proper' wedding. One thing playing spy over the years had taught him was how to subtly manipulate people into thinking things were their own idea or that they had far more control over a situation then they actually did. He was defiinitely going to use that knowledge on his family now, in order to keep the stress levels down to a minimum.

Severus would tell Harry his plans and write to his family tomorrow, for now though it was a late Saturday night and he thought he'd head to the kitchens for some supper before heading to bed.

* * *

A/N:  
for everyone who hasn't already googled it:  
Daffodil means regard, respect, chivalry, and 'the sun shines when I'm with you.'  
Honeysuckle means the Bond of Love,  
Dandelions mean Faithfulness, and Happiness,  
Grass represents submission and homosexual love.

Ok so yeah, this took WAY longer to update than I had wanted, for three reasons. 1) my work has arranged my hours so I no longer get a lunch break, meaning the uninterrupted hour I normally get to use for writing every day has been taken away. 2) Real life has been super busy lately and if I wasn't running around like a chicken with my head cut off then I was sick in bed from over doing it. and 3) Blame Voldemort. No, I'm serious, it's all his fault I didn't update 2 weeks ago. The chapter was all but finished but because he appeared he insisted I had to write him, and then I had to write Lucius and the back story there, then McGonagall and Harry, and it turned into this huge chunk of plot development to move the story along a bit that ended up being a chapter long. So I cut it cleanly in half at the breaking point I had originally wanted, and did a double post instead. So everybody blame Voldemort. It's totally his fault. Next chapter is progressing nicely, but I don't have a clue about when I might get to finish and post it though. Trying to write Luna is harder than I thought and I want to do her justice. See you soon!


	9. Schemes and Formalities

Chapter 9 warnings: AU, Minor2, dubcon, Snape being the magnificent bastard that he was always meant to be.

Chapter 9 Schemes and Formalities

* * *

_To the Lady Nicolette Aurora, Head of the Most Honourable and Noble House of Prince, Humblest greetings to you._

_I am writing to inform you of my Engagement and Betrothal of Bonding to one I think you will consider most worthy. I wish for the opportunity to formally have them meet you over a family dinner to ask for your blessing; at a date, time, and location of your choosing. Since I would also like certain other members of the family whom I am close with to be in attendance as well, I'd like to discuss a great many things with you pertaining to this matter, and humbly request an audience at your earliest convenience._

_Sincerely yours, the Son of Eileen Prince, Severus Snape._

_"To my dearest aunts, uncles, cousins and related kin of the Honourable House of Prince. I thought it only fitting to be the first to inform you that I have recently become engaged and betrothed in bonding to a charming and upstanding individual whom you will no doubt find as engaging and respectable of a person as I myself do. I have no doubts that they will make a wonderful addition to our family, and that they will make you proud to call them your kin. I know you were not informed that we have been courting for more than the past two years, and for that I apologize, but it was for the sake of maintaining certain proprieties, as well as my own needs of assessing a situation fully before committing myself to a course of action, which prompted my hesitance and silence on speaking about them before now._

_Due to the current political and social climates of Britain and my role within them, as well as several other factors which will be revealed when you meet my Intended, I am not at liberty to reveal my Betrothed's name to you, or any specific details about them at this time, especially in a form which might be interceded by the wrong people. Therefore I am asking that The Family Head please arrange a dinner at their own convenience, somewhere away from such troubles, where we may all meet, get to know each other, and announce this happy news formally._

_I will also have to request that the recipients of these letters please keep them solely to themselves as well as any knowledge about my fiancé that they may come to learn. This is not done out of spite towards anyone, but for my Betrothed's and my own safety, as well as the safety of all those whom I have chosen to contact and share this knowledge with. Once circumstances here in Britain resolve themselves, we will have a formal and public reception with the entire family invited._

_My Betrothed and I would also like to extend an invitation to my aunts and female cousins, to help us make the plans and arrangements for our wedding and bonding ceremony, since I am afraid neither one of us are especially proficient in such things and I want to give My Intended everything they desire. Your help would be greatly appreciated._

_If you would like to attend the dinner, or accept my invitation for assistance, please touch your wand tip to your name on the envelope and say: "On my honor and wand I shall accept and remain silent." And your name will be put down on my list. If you decide to decline, please touch your wand tip to your name and say: "On my honor and wand I must decline, but I shall remain silent." Your invitation will burn itself, and there shall not be any talk or hard feelings about the matter. I am the only one who shall know it was done, and I understand how some would not want the risk or responsibility involved._

_I await your replies most eagerly, and eternally remain your most loyal kin._  
_Sincerely, Severus Snape, The Son of Eileen Prince, may her soul remain at peace._

With a scrolling flourish and a roll of the eyes at such purple prosed, excessively cheerful nonsense, Severus finished writing and aimed a charm at the parchment which was created and used exclusively by the Prince family to keep outsiders from snooping through the post, and was so well known amongst the family that it was second nature to use it anytime someone corresponded with their relations. He then proceeded to whisper the spell to make over sixty duplicates which would then fold, stuff, and seal themselves. A list of addresses lifted themselves off a roll of parchment and deposited themselves on the letters as they passed beneath them.

The letter was formal, vague, and juicy enough with mystery and gossip to tempt even the most reserved members of his family. Severus knew with such a mystery on their hands that every last one of his relatives that received a letter would badger the head of the family into arranging the dinner no matter how much she disliked Severus on a number of principles, the least of them being his job and lack of wealth.

Knowing how rigidly Hogwarts liked to rifle through post, even with the added security of being illegible to anyone who opened the letter without speaking the counter charm, Severus knew better than to trust the school service or the ministry where nearly everything was screened on a regular basis. Even though he had included very little true information in the letter, it was more than enough for some people to start putting the pieces together. He decided to hire a private courier service down in Hogsmeade to deliver them to their main branch in London before they were distributed to their respective addresses. It would cost more than normal post, but maintaining the privacy of the contents was far more of a concern than an added expense was.

He made it to an early brunch instead of to breakfast, but as it was Sunday he didn't much care. He had three detentions today, none of which were with Harry, and while he loved torturing misbegotten whelps with no respect for the art of brewing, a greater part of him wanted to skive off today and finish his errand so he could stop thinking about it. Spotting Filch grumbling through the hall while hauling a bucket and mop and muttering about stringing students up by their toenails, he made up his mind.

"Ah Argus, just who I was hoping to see."

"Morning, Professor Snape. What have the little monsters done now?"

"Blew up three cauldrons and melted the ceiling last week as I'm sure you recall. I was wondering if you would like the assistance of the ones responsible for four hours today. I'm afraid I double booked and have some appointments and errands I need to run down in the village, but I wasn't about to let them off the hook. Do you have anything you could saddle the whelps with that would be particularly unpleasant?"

A wicked smirk crossed Filch's face and he set down the mop and bucket. He was quite possibly the only staff member who hated children more than Severus did.

"Sure I do. Just for today?"

"Unless you want them for all three days. It's up to you."

"I'll take them the whole time, could always use the help. Someone set off a bunch of those blasted Weasley fireworks in the fifth floor bathroom and they busted a sewer line. Cleaning up that disaster without wands should keep them properly miserable for the next few hours."

"That would be perfect, thank you. Anything I can bring back from the village for you?"

Filch fished around in his pocket and drew out a few galleons and sickles. "A bottle of Ogden's if it's not too much trouble. This place keeps me so busy I never have time unless I'm a chaperone."

"It's no trouble at all. Thank you Argus."

"My pleasure Professor Snape."

The custodian looked nearly gleeful as he hauled up the bucket and mop again and lumbered off with an off key whistle. Annoyance avoided, Severus began thinking of a way to have Moody come down to the village a bit later to meet with him.

The courier was rather puzzled on why the package was to be delivered to the president of their main branch, but he knew better than to question. The reason was simple enough, the president of the courier service was a distant relative, not one that was going to warrant a letter, but one that could be quite useful when needed. Severus trusting a man who probably knew the counter charm to the letters was a test of the man's character. Should any information leak through to the rest of the family or the press, he would immediately know who did it, for his would be the only name not bound by the spell, and was a distant enough relative that there would be no reprisals if he then took action against the man.

* * *

Harry was holed up in one of the several unused and forgotten classrooms, surrounded by huge stacks of parchment that he was studiously pouring through and sorting into piles of 'yes', 'no', 'pending', and 'errors'. Ron was busy doing transfiguration off on one side of the room, changing small flat stones they had gathered from the lake shore into coins, and Hermione was sealing Ancient Runes on the transfigured coins before charming them heavily. They had all been at it since six in the morning, and while Harry's massive stack of paperwork didn't seem to get any smaller to him, Ron had managed a large pile of the coins, and Hermione had finished charming most of them before eleven o'clock. Once that was done they were more than willing to come over and start helping with the paperwork.

"Is it too late to decide this whole thing is a bad idea?" Harry groaned and banged his head onto the desk as more parchments arrived with Hedwig and the lunchtime mail, who placed the whole stack right in the 'in' box, making it seem as if he hadn't made any progress at all.

"Yes it is, now suck up and deal with it." Hermione chided, grabbing the 'pending' pile and handing it to Ron, while she took the stack of 'errors' and started checking them over with her wand.

"It's not a bad idea mate, in fact it's our best one so far. And you know we're with you all the way." Ron said with a look that almost made Harry believe him.

Hermione put her hands on her hips."Anything worth doing is worth doing right Harry, and we have learned from past mistakes so that we can improve everything this time. You knew from the start that this wouldn't be easy, it's a little late to start grousing about the workload don't you think?" she said with her patented 'Hermione tone'.

"Soon as this whole business is up and running, I swear the first thing I'm doing is hiring a proper secretary so I don't have to bother with all this bloody paperwork." Harry groused, grabbing the next packet in his 'In' box and starting to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

Hermione smirked. "Oh you'll still have to do it, you just won't have to make sure everything is in order before it gets to your desk, or file it after you are done."

"Cutting it down is still cutting it down. So how are we doing so far?"

Ron set the stack aside and grabbed the chart sitting on another desk. "So far about 70% of Base Level are about to advance, and 50% of the Fielders are now eligible for testing into a higher level, mostly Footman and a few for Ranger. One Baser is probably qualified to test all the way to Marksman to be honest, but he's not of age yet."

"Already? That was fast."

"Most of the first class of the D.A. have just been waiting to turn 17 to qualify for testing. He joined back in his 4th year, and he's really good and extremely dedicated now that he's in 6th, so it's not that surprising." Ron said.

"Ah, you must mean Sheradon Westerly. I've seen him in practice, great talent, but dedicated doesn't really describe it, more like possessed when he seriously starts firing. What's his psych eval?" Harry asked as he leaned back in the chair in thought.

"Not Ideal." Hermione sighed, as she pulled Sheradon's file from a filing box near Harry and started reading. "He's talented, but his pregnant Muggleborn mother and 4 year old baby sister were killed by Death Eaters just a few months after he joined while he was here at school, and not long after that is when his skill levels started making a marked improvement. I wonder how much is natural talent and how much is a vendetta. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve justice, he's not the first and won't be the last person with a similar story or motivation, but when it comes down to it, will he be able to stop himself from killing when he's got a disabled Death Eater on their knees, or will he commit murder?"

Harry thought long and hard for a minute. "I know I've worked with him a few times and he doesn't seem to have a problem following orders, but who does he respond to best?"

"Who's taken down a mass murderer that killed their parents, and has done so no less than 5 times so far, and still lived to tell the tale?" Ron asked bluntly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Great. Alright. Let's test his resolve, give him a way to vent that anger before it gets him killed, and a shocking wake up call about what war and killing is really like. I'm going to need a full combat simulation as gory and realistic as possible. Does he have any other family members?"

Hermione flipped through the file. "Father, Gilius 42, and an elder brother named Benedict, a 7th year Ravenclaw."

"What's Benedict's status?"

"Supporter, non-combatant, possible medic interest once we get the division running."

"Perfect. I need to see him as soon as possible, and find somewhere outside of Hogwarts for this scenario because interruptions are the last thing I'll need."

"Give us a few weeks to set things up, I doubt they are staying for the Christmas break, so it will have to be after that."

"That's fine Hermione, consult with Princeton for anything you might need, he's always willing to help with these kind of things and he'd be a great alibi and a way to keep things safe when the time comes. He might even agree to play the role of spy if you ask nice enough."

"Got it. I'll try to see Benedict Westerly before dinner and send him your way."

"Thanks. Oh and Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"Have the main adversary be a pretty young woman under the death eater mask, 15 weeks pregnant."

Hermione winced but nodded. You could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to protest, but at the same time recognized the need to shock the boy enough to leave a lasting impression that could prevent him from making a really regrettable decision when the situation was real.

"I know it's cruel Hermione, but there's also the chance he might keep his head, and if he does it will just help reinforce exactly why he should practice restraint unless given no other choice. Until they have been face to face with them, death eaters are nothing more than shadowy forms and bone white masks capable of making people feel afraid. They are boggarts and boogie men, and the monsters hiding in the closet and under the bed. They almost aren't real, and they definitely aren't people. Making him realize they are as soon as we can is best don't you think?"

Ron crossed his arms "It could be really good mate, but with what he's been through already, it might just push him over the edge yeah? And then what? It's risky business."

"Too risky?" Harry questioned "You're my strategist Ron, tell me the truth."

"I just did. This is a 50/50 the way I see it. You either shake him into thinking or you push him over the edge and lose a talented ally. If he goes over you're gonna have to obliviate him or he just might lose it completely and become a killing machine."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "He and his brother are probably close, especially after the attack, and Benedict knows Sheradon better than we do, I say we consult him on this. But just as my opinion, I think the risk could be worth it. Sheradon has been through a lot already and it didn't break him, he's fighting back, we just have to show him a healthier way of doing it."

Harry nodded. "Alright. I'll see what Benedict Westerly has to say on the whole thing and then adjust if needed. Now how about some lunch? Mountains of endless paperwork make me hungry."

Hermione smirked. "Oh Dobby! Harry's hungry now!"

The excited little elf popped in with a giant smile and a tray near three times his size in his arms, and another one balanced on his head. Both were loaded to overflowing with food that Hermione immediately helped him set down on a desk. "Dobby has food for Harry Potter Sir! Dobby has enough for Harry Potter's Hermy and Weezy too! Dobby has fried eggs, kippers, corned beef hash, whole roasted tomatoes, and plenty of toast and rolls and cheeses, lovely smoked sausages and crispy bacon, greens salad, and potato salad, a ham, a chicken, braised lamb chops, boiled turnips, potatoes, parsnips and beets, mushy peas, sauteed mushrooms, and pot roast with potatoes and vegetables, then Dobby has mince pies, sticky toffee pudding, trifle, custard, and hot apple rhubarb crumble for afters! Dobby be right back with the tea!"

Harry stared dumbfounded at the amount of food as the house elf popped out and then right back in with three slightly smaller trays. One loaded with plates, silverware, glasses, napkins, three tea pots, cups, saucers and all manner of tea accessories, and the other held some butterbeers, steaming hot cider, hot chocolate, carafes of water, milk, orange juice, pumpkin juice, and vegetable juice, and the final one had roast beef, cucumber, watercress, and egg salad sandwiches, six types of scones, sausage rolls, biscuits, fruit salad, and so many little dishes of mustards, flavored whipped butters, honey, clotted cream, marmalade, preserves, relishes and chutneys that he couldn't readily identify them all at first glance.

Even though he'd obviously gone way overboard, they all thanked Dobby, and Hermione gave him two Sickles as well since she knew by now it was pointless to try and get him to accept more without complaint.

"Her-Hermione! That's enough to feed all of us for almost a week!"

She turned to Harry with a wicked smile. "It's the end of October break Harry, we have a week before classes resume, so we aren't leaving except for bathroom breaks, errands, and sleep until we're completely finished, and honestly with the way you two eat, I'd be surprised if it lasts us three. Now dig in, we are wasting time. After entrance packets we have evaluations, a whole slew of interviews, and need to arrange meetings with the senior trainers. We also need to owl order new supplies and equipment, and have to revise our financial plan and budget because of the influx we've been getting. Then of course there's the Baser training session and the Fielder trials, and if we can set up a round of advancement testing that's all the better. Then-"

"Alright alright I get the point! I won't be getting any rest on this holiday, got it! Now lemme at that food!"

Ron was already piling a plate high and had a sausage roll stuffed in his mouth by the time the other two turned around.

* * *

The fastest way Severus could contact Moody was by Patronus since he didn't know where the man might be at the moment. His Patronus had changed two years ago, probably after he had found Harry at the Dursley's, when his emotions had been so turbulent and nearly out of control.

_He had almost taken Muggle Baiting and Death Eater Revels to a whole new level that night. He had honestly wanted to not only blast the incompetent 'guards' but also to kill Lily's sister with his own two hands, choke the life out of her until her dead, horrified gaze filled his mind as a treasured memory for the rest of his days. He had wanted to rip the fat bastard apart, flaying the flesh from his bones piece by piece while he hung over a boiling cauldron, watching as Severus literally cooked him alive, then toss his skinless, still breathing carcass in the woods, douse him with blood, and see how long he could outrun the wolves. Their disgusting offspring was probably no better, but Severus refused to ever hurt a child, no matter how deserving._

_He had honestly wanted to do all of that simply because a few weeks earlier a fourteen year old child he would have sworn up, down, and sideways loathed the very air he breathed, had clung to him and cried himself to sleep in his arms, trusting him implicitly to keep him safe. And then Severus had immediately repaid that trust by turning around and helping send Harry straight to that house the moment school was out._

_Only one thing stayed his hand that night. When he had woken Harry, the boy had again turned to him, reinforcing that the fragile trust he'd been entrusted with had not been broken. If it had, there was little doubt in Severus' mind that he would have slaughtered the lot of them without remorse before he had whisked Harry away._

_He made sure to signal Sirius Black as he appeared in the living room in Grimmauld Place after handing the boy over to Molly, peaking the man's curiosity. When Black followed him down the corridor Severus placed a silencing finger against his lips before slipping into the office to give the headmaster his report. Black was Potters kin, and he knew no one else would tell the man what those blasted muggles had done. _

_It was that night he realized that Dumbledore was setting the boy up to fail, to be a martyr for a cause. It was all there in the fake expressions of concern and his assurances that Potter would be fine, he could tell the old man didn't mean a word of it and had every intention of continuing on exactly as he had done. _

_Severus' original promise to Lily, and the trust that Potter had given him, set Severus on a new course that night. He may be a black hearted bastard, but he was an honorable one damnit, A Prince, and he could never face his friend in the afterlife and tell her he had kept that promise, or any of his relations on the otherside and be accepted if he let the boy be manipulated and killed by those who were supposed to protect him. **"Honor above Life, Life above Honesty, Traitorous Blood Beneath the Earth."** Stated the Prince family creed, and Severus was nothing if not a traditionalist. So that night, he became a free agent, and he and Sirius Black for the first time ever, agreed on something._

_The convict had been livid at what he'd been listening in on, and stormed into the room when Dumbledore showed very little sign of doing anything about Harry's living situation, making Severus want to go back and finish the job so the headmaster would be left with no other alternative. Finally understanding the true legal weight he pulled, Sirius Black had not only threatened to immediately leave the country with Harry since he was his legal guardian, but also to change Dumbledore's Secret Keeper status and kick the whole Order out of his ancestral home._

_Severus knew Harry was completely in the dark over the veritable war that had then been waged over him that night while he'd slept completely undisturbed upstairs, Sirius trying to shake a placating yet unmovable headmaster. Severus finally called Dumbledore's bluff and shocked everyone by growling at Dumbledore that if he ever tried sending Potter back to that house he would reveal the Dursley's location to Voldemort personally and then give the old man an explicitly detailed report of the Revel which would undoubtedly follow._

_The Headmaster had blanched at that and seemed to remember that Severus never made threats lightly And had no qualms about turning against those no longer deserving of his loyalty. Dumbledore had bowed and given in, even going so far as to apologize to Severus, apparently thinking that he was sympathizing with the boy, seeing his own childhood reflected in Potter's situation. It wasn't remotely true, but he let Dumbledore believe what he wished since it served his purposes._

_As he was leaving that night, Sirius Black had approached him and thanked him for protecting Harry and actually apologized for not trusting the man before. Severus had wanted to sneer at the man's offered olive branch, but knew that in the new game he'd be playing he could definitely use an ally, and though the years of animosity weren't dispersed, he still shook the man's hand._

_"I will probably never like you Black, but in this you have my honourable word, I will do whatever I can to keep him safe."  
_

_"And I believe you. Goodnight Severus."  
_

_"Goodnight Black."_

"Expecto Patronum!" Severus' huge patronus burst forth from his wandtip, lighting up the darkened woods with a huge nine foot wingspan as it flew in a whirling circle then upwards into the treetops before diving back and landing on Severus' outstretched arm. "Deliver the following message to Alastor Moody, but make sure he is alone first. 'I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, please meet me immediately in Hogsmeade.' Go."

The Stellers Eagle spread out and took off. Severus knew it would be a few minutes at least before Moody received his message and a few more after that to floo to the Three Broomsticks or apparate on the edge of Hogsmeade. He busied himself in the meanwhile in Dogweed and Deathcap, stocking up on a few potions supplies which could be quite useful in the coming months if he was lucky, before heading over to the off-license to purchase the Old Ogden's for Filch and some bluebell brandy wine for himself. He was just debating on whether to go into Tomes & Scrolls, or Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, when the unmistakable limping form of Mad-Eye Moody came down the main avenue, magical eye spinning and swiveling at all times.

Severus made determined eye contact with the man before walking off steadily towards the Shrieking Shack and pointedly went around the back and inside. It was five minutes before Alastor made his appearance with wand drawn.

"Alastor, that eye of yours can see through walls, if I had wanted to ambush you I'd have done it in the dark and with a whole contingent of wizards if I actually wanted to stand a chance against beating you. Now please, sit down."

"What's the location of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"I'm not the Secret Keeper, so I can't reveal it, and even if I could, the real Mad-Eye would not ask me that."

Severus' wand was drawn and had the man pinned and bound in a matter of seconds, he didn't even fight back like Moody would have. "Who are you, and what have you done with Mad-Eye? Lying would be inadvisable because I will not hesitate to torture you and rip the information straight from your head."

"It's me Boy, I was just testing you. My real question is how many rooms do I have in my London flat and how many separate the library from the kitchen?"

"Twenty-seven that I've seen or know about, Six separate the rooms, or at least they did the last time I was there five months ago, you might have rearranged it since. What are the drinks I can offer you if you conjure the cup and I drink the first draught?"

"Bessie Bunting's Bluebell Brandywine, Melinda Meadowlark's Honey Meade, or Filius Feverfew's Firewhiskey. They are the only ones who have a magical component which changes the liquid's color to acid green if any other sort of substance is added, no matter how tasteless or invisible it is."

Severus released the man's throat and lowered his wand, but left Mad-Eye trussed up for the moment. He pulled out the freshly purchased bottle and set it on a small dirty table in plain view before releasing the ropes and allowing the man to retrieve his wand from the table.

Moody immediately conjured a plain glass and Severus poured the first serving, drained it dry before refilling it and Alastor did the same.

"You're lucky I didn't shoot first and wait for the illusion to die, I'm not too popular in the inner circle right now for being in such good graces with the Dark Lord, my competitors for his affections are adding up fast."

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"Most likely but I haven't come right out and told him, besides the information I have right now concerns you, not him. I need to know, do you own a black mirrored scrying bowl etched with silver runes around the edge?"

"How do you know about that? I just got the blasted thing last week, never seen a relic imbued with so much dark magic before."

"It belongs to the Dark Lord and he will stop at nothing to get it back. Just owning it makes you a prime target Moody, he knows you have it. I don't know what it does, but he's charged me with getting it back for him. I shouldn't have to tell you what would happen to me should I fail to do so."

"Son you haven't seen the thing, it's strong, too strong. I can't hand something that powerful straight over to that murdering psychopath."

"You misunderstand me, he told me to retrieve it, he did not specify its condition. I have no intention of returning it to him whole, and we shall have a very convenient scapegoat, or should I say scape_rat_ to shoulder the blame."

"Now you're talking my language Snape! What exactly did you have in mind?"

Severus smirked and started telling the man his plans.

* * *

The boys begged for a break by four, and since they hadn't slacked off all day Hermione let them go until after dinnertime. It was near seven when Hermione came back to their 'office' with Benedict Westerly in tow. Harry immediately went into 'Leader Mode' and shook the boy's hand then invited him for a chat in the modified storage area of the classroom, but the way the boy acted it may as well have been the office of the Minister of Magic himself.

"Benedict Westerly, thank you very much for coming down on such short notice, come right in my office and have some tea and biscuits. I need to talk to you about how best to help your brother since you know him far better than I, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help us with a bit of a scenario-"

That was the last the other two heard before the door clicked shut behind Harry, and they were left trying not to laugh at how fast Harry slipped into his expected role without even realizing it.

Hermione and Ron kept themselves busy while the others talked behind silencing wards. It was almost two hours later when they re-emerged, Benedict looking a little shaken, but also flushing with pride, a silver coin necklace shining around his neck.

"Wonderful, thank you, you have no idea how much that's going to help us. I'll keep you updated as to our plans, and if you have any kind of concerns or questions about anything, feel free to come to us anytime.

Hermione will you get him an entrance packet to fill out? He has to finish all of the training basics of course, but if he decides to go for it, so far he's pretty much first in the running for the head of the Medical Department once we get all the legal stuff taken care of. I know we have all those others lined up for interviews, but Benedict has a ton of amazing ideas, he can definitely help us get it up and running, with some of these ideas we can probably even have something small scale started by the end of this year. He's already been accepted as a mediwizadry student at St. Mungo's starting next year, but he's been doing self study for the past 5 years, which can give us an edge.

Ron, you're best at planning, here's some notes for ideas he had, look them over and tell me what we can manage to get started on by the end of term with the current budget. Benedict, help yourself to some food, we have quite the spread, and just make yourself comfortable while we get you that packet."

Hermione was looking at Harry wide eyed, it wasn't like him to decide on such an important future for a recruit without consulting either of them first. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. Within half an hour the entrance packet was filled out and their newest recruit was walking out the door with a goofy grin on his face. As soon as the door shut behind him Ron and Hermione rounded on their friend.

"What the hell was that about mate? Since when do you accept, or even interview possible department heads without our vote or input? And what other candidate interviews? The whole thing is barely in the planning stages!" Ron accused.

"And since when do you decide to put people so far up the ladder who haven't even been through the application process let alone the training course? What were you thinking?" Hermione cried indignantly.

"Guys relax, it's a ruse. Just a bit of ego stroking to give him a goal to shoot for. He's motivated best by having people listen to him and something solid to work towards. I've told him this is a long process, and it doesn't surprise him since it took him three years to get into St. Mungo's. We'll have plenty of time to flush everything out. He's so used to bureaucratic red tape and paperwork that it wouldn't surprise him if it takes at least another year to see anything really start rolling. The opening will be a fair shot to whoever applies, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least that if he sets his sights on it, he'll get it. And if all I have to do to keep that brain of his on my side is to give him a ward to run, I'll build him a whole bloody hospital myself. I wasn't kidding about his ideas."

Harry saw the others weren't quite convinced which made him roll his eyes and smile.

"Come on, do you really think I'd try to make that big of a decision on my own without any input from anyone else, when I have a hard time getting through a stack of bloody entrance packets on my own? You guys are my best friends and my advisers, and as stated in the charter rules, any department head candidates have to be first voted on by the main council and then the adviser's council, I wouldn't go stirring up that mess for anything. Now, it's nearly curfew, we'll meet back here around 8 o'clock tomorrow morning alright? I'm sure Dobby will provide breakfast if we wanted something besides the remnants of this feast."

They cleaned up their space for the night, until no one would be able to tell at first glance that the disused classroom was a fully functioning temporary headquarters. They were heading out with their backpacks when they were greeted by a 7th year Slytherin with shoulder length black hair and dark eyes getting ready to knock on the door. "Princeton!" They said all at once.

"You lot are cutting it way too close. Hurry! Filch is on his way down from the staircase." Ron and Hermione took off down the corridor towards the secret passage, while Harry, suddenly hearing the sound of footsteps a bit too close for comfort, pulled the Slytherin back into the classroom, dragged him over to the storage room and ducked into a corner before throwing the invisibility cloak around them as quick as he could. It was only a minute later when the door clicked open and Harry could hear Filch set Mrs. Norris down in the darkened room without turning on the light.

"Someone was in here recently, it's too warm. Find them if they are still here." Harry could feel Princeton move towards the door, away from the protection of the cloak, but he couldn't speak up without discovery. It was only seconds later that Mrs. Norris nosed the door open and from the light coming from the other room he could see her stop dead in her tracks. The Slytherin was laying on the floor, crouched at her eye level, not moving forward, but refusing to surrender the area she wanted to come into. They were in a staring contest, and within seconds Mrs. Norris had turned away and given up the fight without ever alerting Filch to their whereabouts. "No Luck? Well come on, we'll find some disobedient brats hiding around here somewhere." The door clicked shut and then there was the unmistakable sound of Filch locking the door with a key.

The boys waited in silence for several minutes before Harry risked having the torches in the storage area light themselves. Harry had been so focused on Filch he hadn't even noticed Princeton turn around and focus that intense gaze on him. The second they made eye contact the Slytherin pounced, pinning Harry against the wall with his body. "Sebastian I-AH!" His mouth was ruthlessly invaded, his hands forced above his head and bound there with magic. The boy's tongue lapped and sucked and thoroughly dominated Harry until he was a quivering needy wreck pinned to the wall.

"You skipped our date tonight to do paperwork?" Princeton hissed in indignant fury.

"I ohhhh not my idea... Hermione..."

"That insolent little twit has no business messing around with my plans. I barely get to spend any proper time with you as it is since you insist on getting so many bloody detentions."

"S-Snape-"

"Hates your guts, I know, but sometimes I think you go out of your way to provoke him into giving you more. If I didn't know better I'd say you were hard up for the teacher, or maybe he's hard up for you. Think he wants to bend you over the desk and whip that disobedient arse of yours before fucking it raw? I think I'd like to watch that. You'd let me, wouldn't you Harry? You would love to be on display for me like that, because you know it would get me hard."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh Yessssssssssss."

"Beg me Harry, beg me to fuck you senseless and leave you tied to the wall until morning so that all your little friends can find out your precious little whorish secret."

"Seb..."

"But that still wouldn't be good enough would it? You really want it to be the Great Hall where you're set out on display like that, isn't Harry? So that every single teacher, student, and house elf sees their Golden Gryffindor hero debauched, and broken, and begging for a Slytherin's cock up his arse. And I'd put it there Harry, I'd fuck you senseless in front of all of them and give you just what you wanted."

"Please, Yes, please! I- I beg you, please."

Princeton quickly shoved Harry to his knees, lifted his robes and shoved his cock down Harry's eager throat, where he proceeded to face fuck the boy until he was right on the edge, then pulled out and came, The Slytherin's spunk dripping out between Harry's lips and running down his chin. Sebastian released the magic binding Harry's wrists.

"Not tonight. Maybe someday when you can stop pissing me off you'll be able to earn it. Now get yourself cleaned up and in bed before I decide to bend you over the desk to spank you myself."

Even though he hadn't come, Harry knew Princeton was done with him, leaving him hard up because he'd broken their date, and even though he waned to argue, Harry also knew it was pointless to even try. Harry was just vanishing the cum off his face when Princeton snapped a collar around Harry's throat. The green eyed heros' eyes flew wide open. He_ wouldn't_. The Slytherin smirked.

"Don't bother trying to take it off, it won't work, I sealed it with blood magic. Wonder what your precious lover will say when they see you at breakfast tomorrow with my mark around your neck. And you will be at breakfast tomorrow. I don't give a shit about the person who thinks they've claimed you, you're mine, and if they really want you that bad they can try and buy your delectable arse off of me. Sweet dreams Harry."

Harry was left kneeling on the cold stone floor with a cooling hard on and a foreign collar around his throat. FUCK. "You evil sadistic BASTARD!" He growled with clenched fists after the door shut. He tried to tug the collar off, but it wouldn't budge. "_Alohomora, Alohomora, ALOHOMORA_!" At least he didn't have class- ' _tinga ting_' The Gryffindor's eyes flew wide. Wait... He _didn't_. No, He _wouldn't_.

Harry summoned a mirror and stared in shock. The collar was white leather with a lavender stripe and silver studs. On the D ring was a heart shaped tag and a little silver bell... He felt his face drain of blood long before he noticed it in the mirror. The tag read "_Harry Pouffer. This horny sex bunny needs multiple daily protein injections. Please return to his kindly obliging owner._" He didn't need to see his cheeks to know they were flaming red in embarassment and humiliation. Only belatedly did he realize that his bonding ring was pulsing strongly on his hand and he blanched. Oh no. He'd kill him.

* * *

Severus waited patiently for the last of the Order members to either clear out or go to bed so he could talk to Black alone. He fingered the ring on it's chain as it vibrated and thrummed in warning. Severus hadn't been expecting that, especially not for the reason the ring was alerting him about. Severus wanted to hex everyone else out so he could get this over with and get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

"Hey Severus, you want some tea or something?" Black asked while casually straddling the bench of the kitchen table.

"No, thank you. I was just thinking that I should probably take the dog out before I leave, since it seems the rest of the house has already gone to bed. Would you fetch him for me?"

"Dog?"

"The great, shaggy, licking monstrosity. I doubt anyone's taken him on a walk tonight with all the excitement today. Better to take him out now than to have him wake the house in the middle of the night to be let out."

Black had almost looked offended until he finally caught on, a mischievous smile lighting his face. "Oh right, Padfoot. Yeah I'm sure he'd love a walk, thanks." Sirius Black had immediately shifted into his animagus form, and Severus had clipped a leash onto the collar and license that the man actually kept on a hook by the door. He pulled his wand and made an illusion that Padfoot was actually a sleek looking Doberman, far less likely to arouse suspicion in case any death eaters who knew what Padfoot looked like were nearby. They turned the corner and Severus cast his anonymous glamour, short brown hair, blue eyes, and completely forgettable features. They entered a nearby park and Severus dropped his voice to a low murmur that no one could hear unless they were right beside them. Sirius with his canine hearing would have no trouble hearing him however.

"I know it's short, but I promised to keep you updated, and I feel it's best to do that away from any eavesdropping devices of either the twins or the headmaster. So far we are proceeding on time. He wants you to try and recruit the twins, Bill, and Charlie, while he tries with Molly and Arthur. I know he listens to you, so try telling the brat that Moody is a hopeless case, the man will rat us out to the Headmaster the first chance he gets. With any luck, we can make our move at the end of the school year without any problems, before if we are lucky enough. Make sure to have all the affairs in order before then. Lupin can take the necessary paperwork to the Ministry and Gringotts for you, as long as you make sure to name him your legal proxy. If you have any other ideas or requirements, write them down for me and I will pick them up after the next Order meeting. We need 5 more trustworthy people willing to share their skills before we can advance. I'll be in touch."

With that Sirius promptly marked a nearby tree and Severus returned him to Grimmauld Place. Padfoot changed back as soon as the collar was off his throat, and with a glance and nod, Severus turned and walked into the parlor and immediately took the floo back to Hogsmeade.

Outside he looked, cool, collected, and detached, but his mind was in turmoil and it was all he could do not to run the rest of the way to the castle as the ring continued to thrum against his chest. He disillusioned himself long before he made it to the front doors, and ducked into the side entrance that lead to one of the secret passageways. He moved with determined focus up to the tower and into the Gryffindor common room without so much as a portrait noticing his presence. He slipped into the 7th year dorm. All the curtains around the beds were closed, but he could tell by feel alone which bed Harry was in.

The boy was in great distress. He cast heavy silencing and attention diverting wards on the curtain before slipping between the folds of crimson velvet. Harry was laying there with his eyes clenched, silent tears on his cheeks and gripping his wrist against his chest. The ring was pulsing with dull red light and Severus, forcing himself to remain calm, reached out and touched the band, instantly halting his lover's torment as he acknowledged the magic reacting to a breach of terms. Harry's eyes flew open and he sat straight up and clenched tight to Severus' robes, not even bothering to hide his sobs. Severus couldn't blame him, Harry would have been in agony since the pulse had started a few hours ago. He sat on the bed and drew the boy into his arms. '_Tinga ting_.' Severus sneered at the little white collar and with a flick of his wand, the clasp opened and it fell into Harry's lap. The boy pitched it onto the floor as hard as he could.

"Harry, what happened?"

"Please tell me you were in the castle a few hours ago, please! I swear I thought it was our game. He looked, acted, and sounded right. But he took me by surprise, and I was so distracted that I didn't question, and then the collar- oh gods please just tell me it was you!"

Severus' eyes narrowed. Forcing his anger and fury down until he could use it properly on those truly deserving, Severus tilted Harry's face up and kissed him.

"Of course I was in the castle a few hours ago, right before attending an Order meeting with the Headmaster, so I couldn't come back unnoticed. Relax, my Harry, I obviously made the ward on the ring a bit too delicate. I'm sorry, I doubt we will be able to use that form anymore since obviously the magic didn't recognize me."

"But I really like Princeton! You make me shiver head to toe with that one every time. Not to mention we need him. Can't you adjust the wards?"

Severus handed Harry a Draught of Peace.

"I will try. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back. Rest now, think no more about it, you are loyal to me alone, no matter what the ring said to you."

"Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep, I- please."

Severus nodded and reclined on top of the blankets, drawing Harry against his side. His lover's fears laid to rest it didn't take long before the young man relaxed as Severus slowly stroked his fingers through Harry's hair. Within minutes Harry was asleep and Severus finally allowed the control on his anger to slip. He hadn't outright lied, he had been in the castle a few hours ago, a few in this case being seven. Someone had tricked Harry, and what's worse they were close enough to the situation to know about his false student persona and copy it well enough to temporarily fool Harry. He didn't need legilimancy to slip into Harry's mind, the bonding ring was enough of a connection as it had recorded the incident and was more than willing to tattle on Harry's infidelity the moment Severus touched it.

Severus viewed it with a critical eye, and was disgusted. If Harry hadn't been so consummately distracted, which was obviously the assailant's full intent, he would have noticed how things weren't quite adding up properly. Harry actually did try to confirm it was him, when he said 'Snape' but the assailant wouldn't have known the cue, and wove it into a fantasy that would appeal to a submissive person. As it was he didn't start to suspect until it was far too late. But Severus also noticed something else; their plan had been well thought out, but his doppelganger was merely acting, clueless on how to really be a dominant person. He was inexperienced, clumsy, even nervously shaking, and Severus had no shadow of a doubt that the one who had assaulted his lover was not only male, but most likely a student, probably even a younger one. And if that was the case... "_Revelamini notoria in corde, Harry Potter._" He murmured, and Harry's magical core was revealed.

The foreign magic was Traced, and it was aggressively trying to blend with Harry's but wasn't being welcomed. Not only was their bond fighting it off, but surprisingly Harry's own magic was fighting it off too. Harry welcomed Severus's own magic, in fact sought it out, but it was rejecting this foreign signature with everything it could. If Severus had any doubts about Harry's truthfulness, this alone would have dispelled them. What was taking place was no less than magical rape, and Severus would not stand for it. He stunned Harry to make sure he remained asleep and out of pain, then used his wand to slowly purge every last trace of the foreign magic from Harry's core, and stored a record of the signature. If Harry's magic had embraced it and blended there was nothing that Severus would have been able to do to reverse the process without causing Harry great harm, and Harry would have been branded an adulterer and a rapist.

There weren't words enough to describe the fury he felt at the slight Harry had suffered, and a slight to Harry was a slight to himself. Severus allowed his magic to embrace Harry, soothing his panicked magical aura and healing the damage the foreign magic had inflicted.

"_Imperio. Legilimens._" His lover sat up in bed, asleep, but completely under Severus' thrall. "Bring the last 6 hours to the front of your thoughts." Severus bypassed the paperwork and the meeting, and stopped when the boys ducked into the storage room. "Stop. From the moment he turns to you, cut the thread and give it to me." Harry dutifully raised his wand to his temple, withdrew the strand and Severus collected it. "_Oblivisci._ You were not found by Filch, we kissed but I was in a hurry and we made plans to meet for lunch tomorrow. You returned to your common room and went to bed._ Memento_. He pulled out of Harry's mind and took the boy's hand.

"What happened after Mrs. Norris and Filch left the room?"

"I kissed my fiancé, but he was too busy for more, so we decided to have lunch together tomorrow, then I snuck back to the dorms and went to bed, I have to be up early tomorrow for more stupid paperwork."

"Very good. Now tell me the name of your fiancé." Harry was silent for several moments. Even though asleep, stunned, and Imperioed, the boy still fought to keep the information safe. "You will tell me their name!"

"Princeton. Sebastian Tobias Elius Princeton the Third." Harry murmured obediently after another moment of hesitation.

"That's not a wizard's name. Is he a halfblood or a filthy muggleborn?"

"He's not magical, he's a muggle, but his older brother is a wizard so I don't have to worry about the secrecy clause, and I sneak him up to the castle through the secret passages in Hogsmeade. We bought an extra set of robes and he pretends he's a seventh year Slytherin."

"Perfect."

Severus released the Imperius curse and eased the unconscious Harry back down into bed. "Rest well my Harry. I will set things right."

A simple 'point me' spell in the direction of who had given Harry the collar, and Severus' was led frighteningly close by. The door to the sixth year Gryffindor dormitories opened soundlessly and he was directed to one of the beds off to the far left. The curtains drew back and Severus felt sick. Colin Creevy.

"_Legilimens_."

The boy's mind was filled with Harry, crossing beyond admiration and into full blown obsession. He had seen Severus as Princeton in that same room a few weeks ago kissing Harry before pushing him to his knees and had taken a quick photo. The disguise tonight had been a glamour constructed from it, desperately wanting to be the one Harry turned such affections on, determined to take the man's place.  
Severus sneered, equal parts anger, disgust, and revulsion churning through him. He wanted to throttle the vile little worm. But that would have been merciful, and Severus was many things, but merciful was not one of them. Severus Snape had turned revenge into an art form.

"_Imperio_. Sit up Colin Creevy, and open your eyes. He's proud of you Colin, so very proud of how clever you are. He knew it was you from the way you kissed him and made him yours tonight. He wants to know how long you've wanted him. He wants you to show him how deep your affections have run for him all this time. Fetch every single picture and item of Harry's you have taken. Gather your collection of him and place it on the bed so he can see your love for him."

The boy scrambled to obey, pulling a small suitcase out from under his bed. It held three photo albums filled with pictures, a handful of broken quills, three chocolate frog cards, a few notes that had been passed from Harry to Hermione and Ron, the first draft of a transfiguration essay from 5th year, a broken hair brush, the hairs meticulously collected and stored in a phial, fingernail clippings, a pair of socks, a Gryffindor scarf, and a knut.

"And your memories of him Colin, don't you want Harry to see all your precious memories of him so that he can see for himself how deep your devotion to him runs? Here, they'll be safe in this flask."

There was no hesitation before the memories flowed out and down into the flask, nearly filling it

.  
"And now, won't you prove your love to him one more time? He needs your help, he needs your magic if he's going to defeat The Dark Lord. Won't you give him your power so that he can win? _Revelamini notoria in corde, Colin Creevy._"

The magical core was revealed, and the blending had already begun. With a spell so dark he could have been thrown in Azkaban just for _knowing_ it, he slashed his wand straight through the tainted magical core and severed the incriminating evidence. It cut the boy's magical abilities by a third, when he had never been a very powerful wizard to begin with. The boy would be left with less magical ability than Longbottom. Severus stored the tainted fragment in with the memories.

"One final thing Colin Creevy and Harry Potter will be yours forever. You will follow these orders, you will not remember them. This plan is for your ears alone. Even under Veritiserum you will have forgotten that these words were ever even spoken to you. They are what he wants from you Colin, he's trusting you with something so vitally important. You won't let him down will you?"

"Yes. I'll follow Harry's orders."

Severus sneered with a smile so wicked, anyone seeing him right then would have been convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was Lord Voldemort's most devoted servant and anyone who thought otherwise must be certifiably insane.

"Very good Colin, now here's what you must do..."

* * *

Severus sat sipping a freshly poured cup of his favorite rooibos tea, blended with lemongrass and lavender, when Harry showed up for lunch. Harry kissed him and then straddled his lap with a knowing, questioning look on his face.

"You modified my memory."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because the last time I checked, Princeton didn't have your sinfully dulcet tones when telling me we'd meet for lunch. So what happened?"

"Agreement 76. Eat your sandwich."

Harry felt himself go pale and got off Severus' lap.  
_Agreement 76... 'If we are betrayed, the memory of the betrayer can be removed, modified or destroyed so the leadership can remain focused on those worthy of trust.  
Any event or memory which will cause permanent or damaging psychological or mental harm, or will compromise our secrets, is allowed to be removed, modified or destroyed at anytime without any further permission needed.  
If retaliation is warranted I agree that they are to be dealt with accordingly, and I will not ask any questions beyond the explanations given to me, in order to avoid self incrimination.'_

"Fuck. Already? How bad was the breach?"

"Enough to warrant it. The problem has been dealt with most effectively and as per our agreement you will not ask me anymore about it."

"So asking you who betrayed us would be pointless too?"

"Yes. Though I'm sure you will figure it out eventually, I am not going to compromise the memory modification while it's still so fresh. And when you do discover who, I want you to know that all the steps I've taken were absolutely justified."

"I believe you. I trust you, remember? No questions asked. It just shakes me that we've already had a turncoat and we aren't even official yet."

"You bloody idealistic Gryffindor fools crumble the moment someone stabs you in the back and it somehow remains a surprise no matter how often it happens. You never look for the angle or suspect anyone of ulterior motives until having been proven wrong. We instigated this agreement so that you would not need to constantly question the loyalty of those around you, and could just stay in your rose tinted world of eternal friendships, unwavering trust, and unerring loyalty. As well as to possibly make it through this war without needing several decades worth of therapy afterward. Whereas _I_ can make sure that what needs to be done gets done by whatever means necessary, no matter how ruthless, without you worrying, moping, or getting that infuriating_ look_."

Harry sighed and shook his head, returning to Severus' lap with a resigned sigh as he rested his forehead in the man's neck and wrapped his arms around his lover's shoulders. "I never learn do I? Sorry. I won't poke, as promised. And for what it's worth, thank you for doing whatever it is you did, to whoever you did it to, for whatever reason it was needed, and taking care of me again."

Severus tilted Harry's chin up and kissed him. "I have a vested interest in your future Mr. Potter, and I protect my investments. Now eat your sandwich before you become a living skeleton. I like my lover with some meat on his bones."

Harry rolled his eyes and just to be petulant stole the other half of Severus' roast beef sandwich and took a large bite out of it, then immediately regretted it as he tried to ignore the burn of the spicy mustard he hated as Severus smirked at him and held a glass of milk just out of his reach.

TBC

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for being so patient! I know this took what seems like forever and a day to get out, but well I got a bit of writers block on this chapter, especially since this wasn't originally supposed to be a full chapter of its own, just a part of what is now the next chapter, but the darn thing got away from me and once more grew beyond my plans for it. While Princeton was always going to show up, the whole Colin thing was a bolt out of the blue, but it gave me an opportunity to let Snape be an awesome bastard and I couldn't resist. I was originally going to end it at panicking after the collar, but decided that I loved you all too much to do that to you. Well that and it wouldn't have meshed well with the timing of the next chapter. I swear to gods this thing has a mind of its own, I'm just the hostage of the plot bunnies.

So, Luna will definitely be appearing in the next chapter (I've already written her), Moody is a peeping Tom, and Dumbledore gets a surprise. The chapter is already about... halfway done, and Colin's orders will also be made apparent at some point down the road in another chapter. I figured you all would probably like to have an extra long chapter since it's been four months since I updated. Seriously guys, sorry about the wait. I hope I have made it worth it!


	10. Close Calls

Chapter 10 warnings: AU, Minor2,

Chapter 10 Close Calls

A/N: sorry for confusing a few people last time, no you aren't missing anything with Harry's organization, it's going to be explained in another chapter, but I threw you guys a bit more info in this one since so many people asked about it. Enjoy and Review please!

It took almost two weeks after Harry's engagement before the story appeared in the papers. Witch Weekly had run an article first, complete with candid photos of himself and his ring, so he knew it was a student who'd sold the story. Harry's face was emblazoned on the front cover with the main headline screaming:

"**Boy-Who-Lived Engaged to Mystery Lover!**"  
Right next to '**20 Veela Beauty Secrets revealed!**' '**10 easy ways to dress up your dress robes.**' '**How to catch the wizard of your dreams!**' and '**Stud or Dud? Find out if your man measures up!**'

Harry was trying his best not to laugh as Hermione held the girls magazine at arms length pinched between two fingers with a scowl of distaste, as if worried that the content was contagious, or possibly to ward off any rumors that she had ever purchased it, and that if she had it was for the sole purpose of giving it to her best friend so he would know what was being said about him.

She'd had a personal vendetta against the magazine after it had tried once more in fifth year to declare the she had been seen sharing passionate embraces with Harry and had even been caught in a compromising position up in the astronomy tower with him. Harry had actually had to give an interview that time and make them sign a contract that they would print the entire thing verbatim in order to finally get the howlers to stop.

"That rag shouldn't even be allowed to call itself literature..."

"It's not, it's called a magazine, and honestly I'll probably prefer what it says compared to whatever the Prophet might print about me."

_**Young witches grab your hankies, several eyewitness accounts are declaring that Harry Potter, the Wizarding World's boy hero, and our 1,000th issue's most eligible bachelor, is engaged to be married or bonded! **_

_**At the scandalously young age of 17, Harry Potter has been seen wearing a brushed platinum bonding ring with Celtic knotwork and ancient rune engravings. He's also been heard calling it an 'engagement ring' to several friends. **_

_**Sources and photo evidence show he wears the expensive ring everywhere, and no designer we've been able to contact is claiming the ring as their work, leaving us to wonder who he bought it from, or if it's a custom piece obtained from a Muggle jeweler that was charmed with the appropriate spells, protections, and blessings afterward to make it a legitimate bonding ring. **_

_**To add to the romance of the entire thing, Harry Potter is keeping the identity of his fianceé an extremely tight lipped secret, surely making the lucky girl feel like a lovely young Juliet by sharing a secret star-crossed romance with her boy hero. **_

_**So far there have been absolutely no clues to the mysterious identity of the future Mrs. Harry Potter, and no one has been seen wearing the matching ring. We'll keep you Weeklies updated as we learn more!**_

Harry never read the last two lines of the article, he was far too busy being doubled over with laughter and trying to breathe. "A lovely young Juliet? Oh gods are you serious? JULIET? That's too funny!"

Hermione immediately grabbed the magazine and started reading and soon her own laughs were joining Harry's at the very thought of Severus Snape acting even remotely like the classic damsel. Harry's mental image included a pastel renaissance dress, and Severus' hair done up in a braided crown with pale pink flowers and ribbons. It was far too funny to keep to himself, so once he calmed down enough he raced up to the owlry and anonymously sent the magazine off with a school owl, with a note asking "Do you have an affinity for wearing dresses and quoting Shakespeare that I don't know about?" Wishing he could see Severus' reaction in person, but thinking it would probably be safer if he didn't.

At dinner that night Hedwig delivered a small anonymous note that said "No. I hated that particular play before, now I loathe it." Harry'd had an excellent laugh over that too.

The Daily Prophet's article that arrived at breakfast a few days later wasn't nearly as amusing or flattering.

_**The Boy-Who-Lived, barely come of age a few months ago, has gotten himself involved in a serious situation that many consider a solemn and life altering commitment, but that he is treating like a joke. He has been flippantly showing off a bonding ring and saying it is no more serious than an engagement for marriage. Needless to say such a statement has many of the students in an outrage, especially those raised with our world's customs and traditions, or with parents who have participated in a bonding ceremony.**_

_**Many wizarding parents are also showing concern over his decision, fearing it will lead to young people no longer taking a bonding ceremony as seriouly as they should. Is it really wise for one so young and inexperienced in the ways of the world to undertake something like this? Especially since several eye witness accounts as well as his closest friends know and freely admit that Harry Potter has never been known to seriously date anyone, let alone love someone long enough to decide that a bonding ceremony is an appropriate course of action. **_

_**If this person is someone recently met then parental concern is well founded. One needs wonder just how serious he is taking a lifebond when he flaunts his ring yet keeps the identity of his supposed beloved a secret! Harry Potter is refusing to reveal the name or identity of his mysterious Paramour, leading several to wonder if he is truly engaged at all, or if the ring is merely another bid for attention. The Daily Prophet is offering 200 galleons either for positive proof of who young Harry Potter's 'betrothed' is, or for proof that this whole offensive display is nothing more than a bad joke. -Rita Skeeter**_

"Ouch, I think she wounded me... no, wait, it's just this splinter from the table poking me, I'm good."

"I don't think Rita Skeeter likes you anymore Harry." Hermione said with a smirk.

"Oh dear, whatever shall I do? The annoying insect doesn't like me anymore... Wait she liked me at some point? When did that happen? I missed it."

"Well I suppose it could have been worse, I mean if she really hated you she would have thoroughly trounced you, I would call this 'annoyed' more than anything else. Maybe she's a little jealous."

"WHAT? Hermione come on that's gross! I can't believe you even said that!"

Hermione laughed at the look of disgusted outrage on her friend's face.

"Well maybe not exactly like that Mr. Witch Weekly's Most Eligible Bachelor. Maybe more in the way because you are younger than her and you found happiness and she hasn't and that makes her feel even older so she has to cut you down a bit."

"Or she's just a snooty annoying insect that has nothing better to do than try to stir up a controversy even if there isn't one."

"That too. You'll have to be careful though, a lot of the students are going to be tempted with a reward like that. You're lucky the twins aren't here anymore, or you might be in trouble."

"On anyone else that would be true, but even if they figured it out, they wouldn't betray me to Skeeter, not for something like this. They would only want to figure it out because it's a challenge and a mystery. Oh, I almost forgot, I received a letter from them, they want to help us, Sirius has already gotten them to take the vows."

Ron sat down across from them and started piling food on his plate, then glancing at the headline of the Prophet. "Something good in there about you Harry?" he asked as he speared a sausage and put it on top of his pancake.

"Mmmm. Apparently I'm going to be solely responsible for the downfall of marital family values in the wizarding world. That or I'm a liar trying to get attention again. And why didn't you guys tell me that you were outraged over the fact that I'm telling people I'm getting married and not bonded? If I had known the semantics were so important to you I would have tried harder to get it right."

Ron started chuckling as he drizzled the sausage with syrup, rolled it up and took a large bite. "I wouldn't call it 'outraged', maybe 'sympathetic' because I'm no good with that stuff either." He said a minute later. "The only one who might get 'outraged' over it is Hermione, and she doesn't have that look of wanting to beat you over the head with a dictionary, so I think that one's a lie. Besides, no matter the tradition, 'bonded' sounds about as romantic to me as buying tissues, and it also gives me a mental image of you being tied up, and I really don't like that, so stick to 'engaged'."

"Will do. Hey, do you think we could literally give someone a heart attack if I publicly announced 'Oh oops, my mistake, I didn't know the semantics were so important. Yes, I am getting married, and bonded, AND we're throwing in a Trueheart Ceremony just to top the whole thing off properly. And you'll really never guess who my bride is."

Ron started laughing until he choked, and Hermione giggled for a moment before realizing exactly what Harry had implied. Then threw a few sound muffling spells around them before anyone overheard anything. "Really? Harry, are you seriously going to do a Trueheart Ceremony?"

"Yep, we're going to go all out. You guys are invited of course, if you want to come that is."

Ron nodded. "I'm in."

Hermione grinned and threw her arms around Harry. "Of course I'll come! I'm so happy for you!"

Harry was glad to have his friends around him, especially when Luna came up to him a few minutes later, Ron already on his second helping. She sat down next to him and they included her in their charmed sound muffling bubble.

"I'm not mad Harry, she's lying about that." the blond witch said dreamily while stirring huge dollops of whipped cream into a mug of chocolate before drinking it. Harry smiled."Thanks Luna, I appreciate that."

She dipped some toast in the cocoa while Ron finished off his eggs and Hermione her fruit and oatmeal. Harry, for once had a decent appetite at breakfast, most likely because of the 'detention' he had served the night before, and actually managed to eat a full omelet and toast.

Luna stared above their heads, watching the enchanted ceiling after she finished her cocoa. "I think I'm going to give you some lanterns filled with sniggle sprites so that they keep the gloom bugs and waspish wisps away from the wedding and your marriage, because I hope you are really happy together. He's been so much better since you first fell in love, and now he's so happy I'm surprised he can hide it."

Hermione, having perfected the art of anticipating the unexpected around Harry, was about to cast some privacy wards and blurring hexes to add to the sound muffling spells, when Harry grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her towards the doors of the great hall, Ron and Hermione following close behind them. They snuck into a classroom that they locked and warded heavily just to be on the safe side.

"Luna, you know who I'm engaged to?" The boy-who-lived asked in shock laced with a hint of fear.

"Of course. You've been in love for over two years, but you were both a bit stubborn for awhile there at the beginning. Especially Professor Snape. But I'm glad you won him over."

"You've known from the start? Luna, this is really important, how did we give it away?"

"Give it away? Harry you've gained something, not lost it. You do have a lot of nargles around your head today though, could be why you confused it."

"I mean how could you tell we were together, in love? Please I have to know."

"I watch people. They normally only see what they want to see or have to see, I try seeing everything and notice things that others don't."

"Okay, so how did you notice that when we were trying so hard to keep it a secret?"

"His eyes are a bit softer, he smirks or sneers instead of scowling at you all the time. You always keep him at least on the edge of your sight in the Great Hall and make brief eye contact at least once per meal. He goes out of his way to spend time with you instead of just taking house points. I would be careful with that one, the headmaster might notice soon. And the day you came in wearing the ring he kept trying to hide his smile in his tea. He drank four cups of tea that day instead of his normal two because of it. He also smirked when the one girl who had really wanted to be your girlfriend left the room."

"Someone wanted to be my girlfriend? Who?"

"Are you going to go after her and ask to become her boyfriend Harry?"

"What? No of course not, why would I?"

"Then what does it matter? Let her move on and have you become 'the one that got away', instead of being the jerk who knew how she felt and ignored her. Trust me, it's better this way. Besides, you'd want me to keep your secrets, so why would I tell you hers?"

"Uh right, sorry. Does anyone else know? I mean, I know you wouldn't tell since you've kept it secret this long, but has anyone else figured it out?"

"No, no one knows, not for sure anyways. Dumbledore thinks he's getting close though, and he's going to be watching me more carefully now that I got you so worked up. You aren't very good at being subtle, are you Harry?"

"I uh, I guess not. Luna, since you've kept this to yourself for so long, why did you let me know now?"

"We're friends Harry. I wanted you to know I was happy for you both, and besides, how could I be involved in something secret if I knew that you didn't know that I knew the secret?"

It took Harry a minute to work that one out in his brain. "I, uh, wait, what? Oh, do you want to help with the wedding or something?"

"If I can, but I was mostly wanting to let you know that I can cover the wedding as a photographer or journalist if you both agreed. With two such well known people, the Wizarding World will be really interested in your wedding whether you like it or not, and I could at least tell things honestly and keep the insanity away from you, at least as far as the press is concerned since they would have to come to our paper for details instead of to you."

"Would that really work?"

"Yes, if you grant a single paper exclusive rights to a story everyone wants a piece of, they have to go to that paper for everything, and the person with the rights can completely turn them down if they want. My dad is very fond of you Harry, we would keep it as low key as you want, and I would run the full article by both of you before printing anything. Even if you want to wait on announcing anything until after You-Know-Who is gone, we would already have everything ready to go whenever we were given the okay. So you would get complete control over how your marriage is presented to the world, and free wedding photos."

"I'll talk to him about it, he'll probably say yes though. Hey Luna, thanks for being awesome and um, if I ever start to annoy you let me know, because I NEVER want you ticked off at me."

Luna laughed and hugged him. "You're funny Harry. Tell me when he decides. Be careful today, the mooring moaners are in the middle of their breeding season so make sure to keep warm, they love getting people sick. See you later Harry."

By dinner that night many students had become convinced that Luna was Harry's fianceé, and Severus was unconcerned about it since Harry had explained what was going on in a note when he had turned in his homework. Severus had never given much thought to the Lovegood girl, perhaps a mistake on his part, she was in Ravenclaw for a reason after all. He would have her stay behind after class tomorrow and discuss her suggestion.

* * *

It was teatime two days later and Severus was sitting in his quarters grading 5th year essays, and debating adding some whiskey to the tea just to get through the drivel without hunting out the perpetrators and hexing them into oblivion.

Suddenly his mark burned on his arm. It wasn't a summons, the Dark Lord was greatly displeased about someone or something, but Severus had heard nothing about any plans which could have been disrupted. A moment later the flames in the fireplace flared to life and Lucius' face appeared.

"Severus! He's searching for Draco! Someone tipped him off on where he is!"

"Come through Lucius, and have a seat. Now, calm down. Who told him, and what did they say?"

"It was an Auror, he arrived at the manor this morning, he and the Dark Lord just left! I thought he'd quit last year!"

"Lucius, their NAME."

"Barbendale. Halus Barbendale."

"I swear to you Lucius, this is to keep you alive and sane. _Stupefy_! _Incarcerous._"

Severus left the stunned Lucius lying on his bed completely trussed in ropes and raced for the floo. "Headmaster's Office! Hogwarts!" Minerva was in there having tea with Albus, but Severus couldn't be arsed to care about propriety or decorum as he quickly stunned her unconscious without care as well.

"Trouble. Halus Barbendale just left Malfoy Manor with the Dark Lord to show him where Draco Malfoy is being kept. How much backup will we need and how fast can I get there?"

Dumbledore flew out of his chair and grabbed a sheet of parchment from a drawer in his desk. "No time for backup, just move him and avoid a confrontation if you can. These are other safe houses, you can take him to any of these."

"No, I'll just send him here, you can decide what to do after that, it's safer than me knowing where he is."

"Barbendale doesn't know the password for the floo, so they will have a two mile walk from the apparition point and then wards to contend with. There will be one other auror there, please spare him, if only for questioning." Dumbledore threw a handful of floo powder into the hearth "The Draconic Lair! Lemon Blossoms!"

Severus rushed through with wand raised. The Auror in the room was trussed and bound within two seconds, never even getting the chance to raise his wand. "Draco! We're discovered, let's go!" He grabbed the shocked boy and the Auror and tossed them into the hearth. "Headmaster's Office! Hogwarts!" He shouted, and tossed the floo powder in, then turned and faced the room. "_Accio _Draco Malfoy's things!" These too he sent on through. With a few waves of his wand the entire place looked old, disused, and abandoned with a fine coat of dust over everything, and finally, he lowered the wards. Then and only then did Severus banish the fireplace and the floo connection, and duck out the back door which he immediately vanished, and hid himself in the sparse covering of woods nearby where he proceeded to charm all the windows unbreakable. Within ten minutes the Dark Lord and who he assumed to be Halus Barbendale approached the house.

"I can have him out here in just a minute sir, little brat has been begging to go outside for a week. I'll stun him and pass him through the wards, otherwise McCallister might notice, and I want to slit that softie's throat myself."

"You had best hurry, Barbendale, this adventure is quickly wearing on my patience."

Severus smirked as Barbendale went inside. No back door, no other exits, no way to apparate out, no floo, or even a broom and he was about to have seemingly lied and led the Dark Lord to something completely pointless. If Severus was akin to feeling such things as pity, he might have done so for Halus Barbendale... that is if the man hadn't gone and betrayed his godson.

Six minutes passed and the man he could just view through the windows seemed to be having a panic attack inside. The spells and chairs he threw at the windows in his bid to escape were completely ineffectual. The Dark Lord, having become increasingly impatient, went to pull the wards down only to meet no resistance. He swept up to the house and quickly entered. Barbendale actually tried to put up a decent fight. The shouts and pleas and screaming lasted nearly half an hour, before with a mighty explosion the whole house went up in flames and the Dark Lord walked calmly out the front door as the man trapped inside screamed in agony.

Though the Dark Lord left soon afterward, Severus didn't leave until the roof had caved in and the house had fallen to pieces. Then he began the long walk to the apparition point and his way back to Hogwarts.

Surprisingly Draco was in the Headmaster's office having tea and sandwiches when he returned. Minerva however was nowhere in sight.

"Uncle Severus!" He'd never seen Draco so happy to see him, but figured if he'd had no better company than Barbendale and the other scowling auror sitting in an armchair with an icepack against his head for however many months, he too would be thrilled to see a familiar face.

"Are you alright Draco? I apologize for the rough treatment, but time was of the essence and I believe a few bruises would be better than to let a rogue auror and the Dark Lord take you by surprise."

"We're fine. John was pretty banged up on the landing, but he'll recover, he has a head like a rock."

Severus walked over and held his hand out to the other auror, a gruff looking man in his forties. "Severus Snape, Draco's godfather. Sorry there wasn't time to explain, I didn't know how badly we had been betrayed, and I couldn't risk it."

"John McCallister. Was an Auror until 2 years ago when I was taken off active duty. Now I'm on protection detail. You sure know how to throw a hex, I didn't even have time to draw my wand. You ever consider becoming an auror? You'd be a sharpshooter in no time."

"I find I do my best work skirting the edges of the law instead of following the exact letter of it. But thank you anyway, and thank you for watching over Draco."

Dumbledore ushered him over to his desk and poured him some tea.  
"So Severus, what happened?"

"I cleared the place out completely, made it appear as if no one had ever been there, and disconnected the floo before vanishing the fireplace and lowering the wards. The Dark Lord was not pleased with Barbendale as you can imagine. He burned the whole place down with Barbendale inside it. I stayed until there was no doubt. Barbendale is dead, and the Dark Lord suspects nothing."

"But how did you know in the first place? I was unaware that you had been visiting Lucius today."

"I wasn't. He firecalled my rooms, he actually thought I'd had something to do with getting Draco to safety last year. I got the name from him and told him I'd do what I could."

"Is it wise to take such a blatant stance of opposition when Voldemort could be lurking nearby?"

"Lucius is capable of many things Albus, but one thing I know for a fact, he would not try to sell me out to the Dark Lord if it would put Draco in danger. He came to me as a father concerned for their child, not as a Death Eater vying for a higher position by rooting out a possible spy. And with Draco safe he knows he owes me a favor. Now, the castle is dark and it's near dinner so the halls won't be busy, and Draco hasn't had freedom of any sort for months. I'd like to take him flying for a bit before you send him off to another location where he's liable to lose his mind to boredom."

"Flying? Brilliant!" The young blond cheered.

"Now Severus..."

"Two hours Albus, to visit with my godson whom I haven't seen in nearly 6 months. Surely it will take you at least that long to decide and prepare a new location for him and to ask Mr. McCallister whatever pressing questions you may have. I assure you Draco will be quite safe with me."

Dumbledore made no further protests and Severus quickly steered the boy out of the office and down the revolving staircase. "I'm afraid we must disguise you since technically you aren't here. Princeton should work nicely."

"Princeton? Who's Princeton?"

"No one you need to know about, just that his face is trusted around here, and you will not be recognized."

The glamour settled around Draco and Severus wanted to smile. This would help cement some distance between himself and the student persona as well to anyone who was wising up to him. The students in the halls paid them little mind, they were too busy chatting in groups as they headed down to dinner, and their potions master didn't seem to be in a murderous mood. As they headed to the dungeons Draco grew wary.

"I-I thought we were going flying."

"We are if you still want to, I just left something a little tied up when I left in such a hurry. If I'd wanted to harm you Draco, I simply wouldn't have saved you."

The boy huffed and continued on beside him.

"You're too good at manipulating things, I can never tell whose bloody side you're on."

"Oh that's easy Draco, I always serve my own interests first, I have found it is the best way to survive. That's the Slytherin way is it not?"

They came to Severus' chambers and he opened the door with a key and a bit of wandless magic before leading Draco into the sitting room.

"Here we are. Have a seat on the couch, I need to make a firecall."

The boy was a bit nervous as he sat down, but that was to be expected when he'd been hunted for so long. Snape walked into the living room, tossed the floo powder in the hearth and poked his head through.

"Narcissa? Narcissa are you home?"

The lady nearly flew into the parlor in her panic. "Severus! I- umm-"

"Oh I hope I'm not disturbing you if you have company. I can call later if that would be better."

"No, no you aren't interrupting anything. How can I help you Severus?"

"I've aquired several bottles of wine through an inheritance, and I was wanting to give a few to Lucius for Christmas, however I'm hopeless with wine, and I was wondering if you could come through and help me select some for him since you are so good with things like this."

"Oh! Oh yes of course. I'll be right through."

He had no sooner pulled back when the elegant lady swept through.

"Severus?"

He put his finger to his lips. "In a moment. I must retrieve Lucius, I will answer all of your questions momentarily. Have a seat, please."

Severus went into his bedroom and was quickly met with a fierce glare from Lucius. He released the ropes with a flick of his wand. "I am sorry old friend, it was the only way. I knew you would try and follow me and I did not want you to have to defend yourself if I was discovered. Your wife is in the next room. Come, I will tell you everything."

Narcissa stood as Snape re-entered the living room, her husband right behind him. "What news Severus? Is Draco safe? Did the Dark Lord find him?"

"Calm yourself sweet lady, and follow me." Severus said as he turned to lead them to the parlor.

"Severus enough games, tell us about our son! Is he alright?" Lucius bellowed indignantly.

Draco had leapt to his feet upon hearing the familiar voices and Severus had no doubt that he had heard their concern for his safety.

"Draco is just fine. See for yourselves." and dropped the illusion of Princeton to reveal their son standing there uncertainly, but completely whole and unharmed. Malfoy decorum flew straight out the window as the couple rushed forward to embrace their son. Narcissa was on her knees sobbing and clutching Draco tightly, and even Lucius and Draco looked misty eyed.

He let the family have a half hour of private time while he loaded and shrank a trunk that Draco could take with him, and fetched drinks for everyone. The family was sitting together on the couch when he returned.

"I was able to remove every trace of Draco's existence from the safe house before the Dark Lord arrived. To my knowledge, he suspects nothing and blames no one except Barbendale whom he killed at the site. Draco will return into hiding in about another hour, but I wanted to put your fears to rest, since I know it's been a long time since you have seen each other. I will have to modify your memories, and obliviate my own so that we are not discovered, But I thought it would be worth the risk this one time."

Lucius looked at him sincerely. "We are in your debt Severus, truly. If there is ever anything we can do, you have but to name it."

"If the time ever comes I shall let you know. You asked a favor of me recently Lucius, are you still wanting that favor? Because I may know a way."

"Yes. Now more than ever. I can't risk it any longer."

"Good. Narcissa, you and Lucius will go home tonight and you will have a terrible fight. You will blame Lucius for any number of transgressions and he will do the same to you. This squabbling will increase over the course of the next few weeks until finally, hopefully in the presence of Bellatrix if at all possible, Lucius Malfoy, you will strike your wife. This will no doubt lead to a confrontation with Bella. Take her down, even injure her if you like, but do not kill her, the Dark Lord holds her in higher regard.

Narcissa you will immediately leave Lucius. You are unmarked, so the Dark Lord will not consider you a traitor, especially if you will leave a gift for him as a showing of good faith that you are not turning your back on him, merely on your husband who you intend to avoid until the divorce is final, and that should he require you, he has but to ask. As one Unmarked whom he has never needed before, it is doubtful he will seek you out. You will then apparate to Hogsmeade, send me a patronus to fetch you, and go into hiding like Draco, only you won't have a bounty on your head.

Lucius, I have a plan for you too, but it's unwise to strictly plan too far ahead. This will at least put your family out of immediate danger, allowing us to focus on saving you. Is this agreeable to you for the time being?"

"I can't say I'd ever be agreeable to hitting Cissy, but I know I will have to in order to save her life. It's a good plan Severus, thank you."

"Narcissa?"

"Could I go into hiding with Draco? I've been so worried about him. I know he can take care of himself but the others who are with him, I don't trust them anymore, not after today, they are too easily swayed by money."

"Not to mention it is money which would no doubt come out of your own coffers to pay the one who hands over your son. The Dark Lord would see it as a fitting punishment for you both. I suggest emptying your vaults, in fact, Narcissa, take half when you leave Lucius, no one will question it. I will do what I can to have you placed together, but I make you no promises. Those strings are pulled by the Headmaster, not myself, but he believes very much in the strength of a family, love, and giving second chances. I'm sure we could get him to give in once he is convinced of your sincerity."

"Severus, truly, how can we thank you for this?"

"For starters you will not betray me. I am doing this as your friend Lucius, so I would hate to think my faith in you was ill founded. Beyond that, you are Lucius Malfoy, once this is all over I'm sure an opportunity will present itself. Now, it's about time to head back with Draco, if I don't appear on the quidditch pitch to take him flying, the headmaster will question it. I must modify your memories so we are not discovered. Narcissa, stay behind until I return. It will look suspicious if you return so close together."

"You are almost too good at cloak and dagger Severus." Narcissa said with a smile.

"I have found it's what works best when one such as I has to play the role of a spy behind enemy lines Milady." He replied. Letting them take that however they wished.

Lucius briefly hugged his son one last time and said he was growing into a fine young man, before Severus modified his memory and sent him home believing he had spent the last few hours pulling strings at the ministry and was just coming home for a late dinner.

Narcissa didn't want to let go of Draco, but knew that she didn't have any choice. She took a ring off her finger and slid it on his. "Stay safe, think of us, and I hope that I'll be joining you soon. You're a good son Draco, we are very proud of you. I hope someday, we'll be able to make you proud of us too."

"I love you mother. I'll be waiting." The boy had said very little the entire time they were there, probably not trusting his voice.

With a kiss to his cheek, Narcissa finally backed away and Severus cast the glamour back on Draco again. "I'll return in a bit over an hour Narcissa, please make yourself comfortable." With that they headed straight to the quidditch pitch, and if Severus noticed wetness on Princeton's cheeks, he pretended it was merely winter mist and nothing more.

The boy hadn't gotten rusty in his six months of forced confinement, he flew the pitch like one possessed, determined to feel as much of the wind on his face and the feeling of freedom it gave before having to return to his caged prison. Severus followed sedatedly, never having been much of a fast paced flier. A flash of gold and crimson robes caught his eye on the other side of the field. What was Harry doing out on the pitch alone? He caught sight of the boy looping and diving like a madman and jumped on his broom and flew right towards Severus.

"Training a new player in secret? How sneaky of you. Let's see if he can keep up!" And without a moment to try and stop the reckless young fool, Harry was off and quickly catching up to Draco. "Come on! I'll race you!" Harry called out, with a jolly whoop and with that both boys were off fast as the wind, diving and spinning and obviously having a grand time of things. He let them continue for nearly forty five minutes, but soon their time was nearly up and he had to call a halt. They flew down and landed beside him.

Harry took off his goggles and held out his hand. "That was some great flying, you're going to be great on your team next year. I'm Harry, Gryffindor Captain."

Draco removed his headgear and goggles and you could see Harry's eyes go wide as 'Princeton' took his hand uncertainly. "Princeton? I- uh..." Harry's eyes flew to Severus who shook his head no. "I didn't know you flew, I thought you were determined to lock yourself away in the library. It's good to see you out here. Maybe we can fly again sometime?"

"Yeah, sure, that would be great."

"Brilliant, well it's almost curfew, can I walk you back inside?"

"That will not be necessary Potter, I suggest you get back inside before you are once again caught flippantly breaking rules and wind up once more losing the house cup."

"R-right. Night Princeton, Professor."

Harry flew off to the castle and Draco just stood there stunned and staring at his hand. "He- he was friendly to me! He shook my hand like we were mates, and I'm wearing Slytherin robes! Did he get hit in the head with a bludger?"

"You didn't insult him, it was just friendly competition. I have noted that Potter rarely ever gets in fights these days, and that the explosions in his potions classes have become nearly non-existent. I wonder why that is."

Draco had the grace to blush.

"You are lucky I did not find out about it while you were still a student here Draco, otherwise I would be forced to deduct so many points from you there would be no question on who the Slytherins would have to thank for losing them the House Cup. Such reckless foolishness could have wound up seriously harming or even killing another student. No matter what set your feud off, I hope you take this as a opportunity to grow up. Now, it's time to head back."

Severus stopped them at a side door to the castle. "Draco, I am going to trust you with something because you are my godson, and I want you to have a way to reach help should you need it. You must not show it to anyone else for right now, or even talk about it, things will become known in their due course. Can you keep this a secret? Can I trust you Draco?"

The boy looked extremely serious. "You saved my life today, and the life of my parents, I owe you a lot more than a promise for silence Uncle Severus. You have my word."

"Good." Severus pulled a silver medallion out of his pocket and put it around Draco's neck. "Only other people who are wearing these medallions will be able to see or sense this on you, it is undetectable by any other magical means, and it will not fall off. If anything happens, all you need to do is think 'Help', 'Injured', 'Trouble', or 'Trap', whatever the situation is, and I and as much backup as I can get will have immediate apparition coordinates to your location no matter how many wards you are under. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this could be used horribly in the wrong hands and is only to be used in extremely dire circumstances. You aren't supposed to know about these since you aren't a member."

"A member? Of... The Wizarding Defence and Morality League?" Draco questioned, squinting at the words running along the border on the front of the coin.

"Not now, everything will be revealed in time. I have your oath Draco, and I intend to hold you to it. You swear to keep it secret yes?"

"Yes, Uncle Severus."

"Good. Now let's go."

The glamour of Princeton was gone by the time they made it to the revolving staircase. It was a few minutes past when he said he'd return, but Severus didn't care.

Dumbledore twinkled at them merrily. "I hope it wasn't too cold out on the pitch."

Draco shrugged. "It was rather good weather for this time of year and the winds weren't up too much. The school brooms are nowhere near as good as my own, but it was nice to go out and fly for awhile. So where are you sending me this time? Maybe somewhere warm, like Greece?"

"I'm afraid not. We've readied another safehouse and it will just be you and Mr. McCallister for the time being until I find a more trustworthy replacement for Halus Barbendale."

Draco shot a filthy look at Severus at the words 'more trustworthy' and Severus couldn't blame him. He took the small trunk out of his pocket and handed it over. "Here, to distract yourself from such horrible oppression."

"What is in it?"

"Some games to keep you occupied, and a few things from the Weasley twins joke shop that I thought you would appreciate, in the hopes you will not drive another of your guards out of their heads. And because I was feeling particularly generous, there is also a whole collection of your 7th year textbooks and assignments that I have gathered from your teachers, as well as a record of all the lectures you have missed so far, with more to come. Just because you're in hiding doesn't mean you can't still pass your classes. The Headmaster, I am sure, wouldn't mind passing your assignments, tests, and homework on to us as needed. You're seventeen Draco, you can practice magic without getting the Ministry's robes in a twist. I expect you to catch up quickly."

Draco's smile was only half forced. "Homework, just what I always wanted. Thank you Uncle Severus."

Severus smirked and completely disregarded the sarcasm. There were many other things in that trunk that Draco would very much be grateful for, including a wizarding wireless, and a complete set of art supplies, tools, sketchpads and canvases. Severus was the only one who knew about Draco's hobby, even Lucius had no idea. He hoped the boy could bring himself to use them, even though he wouldn't be alone. "You're welcome. McCallister, again, I thank you."

The potions master waited outside while the Headmaster sent the boy and auror on through to the safe house. Five minutes later the door opened and he re-entered the office. "It was a very good thing you did today Severus, truly."

"Don't try to spoil my mood with such nonsense Albus, it was Slytherin cunning, and nothing more. In one day I've neutralized a traitor before he could talk a second time, displaced the Dark Lord's attention without suspicion and made him think he hit a completely dead end, gotten the loyalty of all the Malfoys on my side, have that same family in my debt for the foreseeable future, and manipulated you into giving me four favors without you noticing it. It's almost a shame that I won't be able to remember this day until after the war is over, if I live that long. Perhaps I'll preserve the memory and bequeath it to someone, in case I die. Such a day of true Slytherin ingenuity and cunning should not be wasted."

"Four favors out of me Severus? Whatever are you talking about? Allowing the boy to go flying?"

"Hmm five favors then. This IS a good day. Draco Malfoy is now going to be continuing his studies even though he is no longer a student here, I was able to visit with my godson even though you have not allowed me to see him until now, and in a month or less, you will begin providing me with a selection of trusted guards in Hogsmeade ready at a moments notice to escort someone into protective custody. I will require their services twice."

"Protective custody? For whom?"

"Oh, didn't I mention Albus? This incident has completely broken the Malfoy's faith in the Dark Lord. One does not threaten the life of the only heir to a pureblood family as old as the Malfoy's and retain their loyalty. I doubt they will be loyal to your cause of course, but they will no longer fight on the side of the Dark Lord, and they will probably be willing to provide information and to testify against others in exchange for sanctuary. Narcissa will be defecting first to make it easier for Lucius to break free, since then his family won't be able to be used against him. Oh the chaos and destruction we will be able to cause in the inner circle together before we fake his death. I truly think that I want to raise a toast to Halus Barbendale, for providing me with such an opportunity. Have a good night Albus, I know I will."

He could hear the headmaster chuckling after he shut the door. "Well played Severus, very well played indeed."

Narcissa was sitting comfortably reading a book and sipping a cup of tea when the Potions Master returned to his chambers. The Lady Malfoy looked up with a knowing smile.

"You know Severus, I have always enjoyed potions, but I never had the true skill required to become great at them like you do. Everything is so precise, you can't fiddle around or experiment with them the way a chef could with a recipe, not unless you truly know what you are doing with every ingredient. I doubt very many people appreciate or even recognize the dedication and attention it takes to become as proficient as you have in your art. The person you love will be very lucky indeed if you give them the same level of care and attention. I truly wish you happiness."

He held his expression and his complexion neutral only by sheer force of will and practice. "Love? Narcissa, I am a mean, bitter, sharp tongued, cantankerous, ugly bastard who is very proud of the fact. I'm also far too selfish and bad tempered to try and make someone else happy, so who on earth would be mad enough to fall in love with me?"

"Well I can't say I know who they are, but it does look like you had fun. I highly doubt you are so much smaller than Lucius when you are nearly the same height and breadth Severus, not to mention you strike me as more of a 'boxer' man."

Severus followed to where she was pointing and there, behind the back leg of the arm chair across from her was a pair of Harrys Y fronts, clearly torn in half in the crotch and back. They were from Severus' haste to get at the infuriating minx when he'd snuck into Severus' quarters two days ago and waited on the sheep skin rug, already lubed, shirtless and barefoot in his jeans, wrists tied, with chocolate on his chest spelling out 'Lover Boi', after having rubbed undiluted pheromones into his hair and spritzed them around the room. Harry had been a flushed and achingly aroused needy teenager when Severus had found him, and the pheromones only added to Severus' own predicament when he started paying attention to his lovely young lover... He was going to keep those underwear...

Narcissa'a laugh was humored and melodious. "He must be quite extraordinary if he can get you to be so... passionate Severus."

"Infuriated is more like it Narcissa, the minx is insatiable."

"So, should we be expecting wedding sparks in the near future? I do hope you would invite us to the wedding if you do."

"If we survive this war and decide to do something so silly you will be the first to know, but for my sake, keep it from Lucius, the man will never let me hear the end of it if he knows I have a lover and he doesn't know who."

"I will, I want to see the look on Lucius' face when you tell him. He'll be happy for you. I was being honest, I hope your lover makes you very happy Severus. We all need some happiness during the dark times, and I'm begining to see just how dark these times truly are. How much will I remember of today?"

Without preamble Severus raised his wand and cast the spell.

"You will remember everything up until you came through the hearth except for Lucius firecalling or visiting me, and then you will have looked through wine bottles with me. You will not remember the conversation we had but you will still follow your part in the plan. Once we selected Lucius' Christmas gift, I will have shown you a message that Draco smuggled to me. It said that's he's keeping up with his 7th year studies, misses his favorite foods, he's debating learning how to cook because he's sick of sandwiches, soup, and porridge, but that Bob makes a decent cup of tea. He has become much better in both Wizards Chess and Gobstones since he and his two Unspeakables guards play a few dozen rounds of them a piece every day. Since the guards are both such brilliant conversationalists, for awhile he had dubbed them Speaks-Only-With-Eyebrows, and Mr. Glares-With-Sword, but decided those names were too long, and they didn't object or even seem to notice when he later decided to call them Steve and Bob. He has no idea where he is, but that it's warm, sunny most days and there's a beach he can see through one of the windows even though he's not allowed to visit it. He wishes he had a wizarding wireless so they could at least listen to music and quidditch, and he's trying to get Steve to bring one sometime after a rations run. He wants a pair of Sticky Trainers for Christmas so that he can literally climb the walls, four packs of playing cards, and a book with as many ways to play cards as possible. You will NOT remember that I have a lover or what you found under the chair. Memento."

"Severus thank you, I know Lucius will love the gift, and thank you, for sharing the letter with me. I only wish I could keep it."

"It's too dangerous for you to own such a thing and not have told the Dark Lord about it, I don't even know how the boy managed to get it to me unless the guards agreed to send it for him. It holds no pertinent information, but it would be enough to get the Dark Lord angry. With the Unspeakables as his guards he must be in the hands of the Ministry and not with the headmaster like I had originally thought. I don't even think Dumbledore has those kinds of connections since he and the Ministry are always at such odds, and learning any other information will be nearly impossible now."

"He's alive and safe, that's all I can ask for now. Take care Severus, I will see you soon."

"Yes you will, and Narcissa, you can always come to me if you need it, I am your friend as well as Lucius' I hope you realize that."

"I do Severus, and I will, I promise. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Narcissa flooed away and Severus turned around only to be met with a wand tip held directly under his chin and Harry's eyes questioning him. "How did you lay a claim at the Burrow a year ago last summer?"

Severus smirked at how carefully Harry had worded such a personal event.

"I lured you out into the woods, far from friends, family, and aid. I kept you complacently docile with the use of food and drink, and hit you with a confundus charm, then I stole your breath away and placed my mark of ownership on you, binding you into my service to please me at all times." A non-verbal summoning charm had the collar lightly smacking into Severus' hand.

Harry smiled, lowered the wand and kissed Severus as the man clipped the collar on. "That's not how I remember it, there was no confundus charm. So who was Princeton?"

"Draco in the first disguise I could think of. We had a close call today, but because of it several other pieces have fallen into place in my favor. I apologize if I worried you."

"Confused the hell out of me is more like it, which is why I decided to come down under the cloak. Imagine my surprise at finding Mrs. Malfoy in the living room. Must have been quite the eventful day. So are you bringing him into the group? You know I trust your judgment but if you want him in you'll have to convince the others."

"I'll see if he acts interested to learn more. I gave him an amulet in case there's another problem, but I explained nothing except that it could summon help in dire circumstances."

Harry nodded. "So, the curfew bell has already rung, and I'm not in bed yet. Whatever shall you do with me?"

"Rule breaking as usual, Mr Potter. I don't think your detentions are making much of an impression on you. I think you are forcing me to use harsher punishments on you."

"Oh really? And what did you have in mind Mr. Snape?" Harry purred

Severus wound his hand into Harry's hair, gripped tightly and pulled the young man close so he could whisper in his ear. "Something that will definitely have you bent over to receive your due, and putting your ass in a bed I know you'll stay in."

Harry shivered and clenched the front of the potion master's robes. "I'll just go and get that hairbrush then shall I?" He asked, gazing up innocently with a smile and grinding hard into his lover's thigh.

"The switch and black suede flogger too My Harry. I want to make sure I leave a lasting impression on you."

Harry shivered again. "Merlin Severus, you keep talking like that and I'll cum before you land the first stroke."

"Let's see if I can make you think of me every time you move tomorrow. Every stroke of cloth against your skin, every time you sit, every time you have to make sure you are hiding your marks, I want you to think of me Harry."

Harry smiled. "No problem." he replied and was released. This was going to prove to be a very fun night, he thought as he went to get his 'rougher toys' for Severus to use on him. Maybe he'd bring out some green and gold Shibari ropes as well, after all, his lover was in a very good mood tonight, and he was feeling rather lucky. Harry wondered if he'd need a cushioning charm in class tomorrow and he found himself hoping that he would.

TBC

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A/N: wow not nearly as much time between chapters this time. Hooray! That's because this year, this story is my NaNoWriMo project, just because I love you guys that much. I've been working on quite a few of the other chapters too, so expect more in the near future.

I was thinking of adding their play scene as another small excerpt, because while I adore spanking/paddling/whipping scenes, somehow in almost every fic they are used as punishment. If you are actually IN the BDSM lifestyle, especially the S&M part of the equation, or have been to a play dungeon, you know that's not the case. Those scenes are used for pleasure most times. Doms have far more creative ways of punishing a disobedient sub than spanking or whipping someone who enjoys it.

Also to clear up a misconception, Harry is NOT a sub. Yes he bottoms and wears a collar that's true, but the collar means something completely different here. Harry has a few abandonment issues, the collar is a physical representation that he's not alone and is loved. He is not Severus' slave or submissive, he might role play it occasionally, but they don't live the lifestyle to that degree. Harry and Severus would be considered 'Kinksters' in this story, they like to play with a variety of toys, instruments, scenes and the like to spice up their love life.


	11. Kiss of the Whip

Chapter 11 warnings: AU, Minor2, language, **and a lot of things I have to rework to make this chapter site** **approved**. I will leave in all relative plot points, the rest, is bye bye for right now. +18s can read unedited on my AFF.

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Chapter 11: Kiss of the Whip

*huge chunk of scene being reworked for site compliance*

Harry doesn't know what he's saying he's so out of his head with sensation and pleasure, but he knows that he's talking, and he must have said something right because suddenly Severus is pressing into him and there isn't a spot on him that doesn't feel absolutely Claimed, possessed, and owned.

Severus of course has no problem understanding his beautiful minx's cries. "Severus! Oh please, oh PLEASE! Do anything, take anything, oh please, anything you want I swear! It's yours, I'm yours, make your claim! Take me, use me! Anything! Please Please _PLEASE_!" How could he deny such pretty pleadings? He doubted Harry even realized that he'd also removed the hood since his green eyes are closed so tightly, but he grabs his beautiful young love, pulls him closer and whispers in his ear as he slides home into the warm, welcoming heat. "You're Mine, Beloved, and I am most definitely yours." Their rhythm is deep and sure, Harry so eager and offering, and Snape almost compelled to lay claim and take all that is given.

Severus releases Harry's arms and summons a warm, thick blanket before extracting Harry from the sling. Harry is all but boneless in his arms as he wraps the blanket securely around the green eyed young man and picks him up into his arms and takes them into what he has already started thinking of as 'their' bedroom even though Harry doesn't live with him yet. As usual Harry is extremely cuddly after the rougher play and wraps himself bodily around Severus as much as he can. Severus even banishes his clothing just so Harry can feel him better. The teen's head rests on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart while Severus plays with his hair. The comfortable silence lasts a good 20 minutes before Harry stirs and begins peppering his chest with kisses and kittenish licks.

"Feeling better?" He asks and Harry nods. "Thank you." The green eyed young man murmurs, and curls tighter around his living body pillow. Severus summons a glass of water and Harry eagerly drinks it dry. A few minutes later Severus stirs and starts examining Harry's marks, making sure none of them would be visible while clothed, and to heal the ones that were bleeding slightly. Severus' handiwork covers the delectable body in varying shades of pink and red and deep welted shades of purple. Welts and scratches overlapped each other indiscriminately, their intersections always a deeper color than the rest, and he knew in a few hours that some of them would darken even further.

Anyone who saw Harry right then without knowing the story would probably think he was being abused, unaware of how much Harry enjoyed losing so much control like this, and craved the insistent kiss of the whip even though they rarely indulged. Severus tried to limit himself even though he enjoyed the rough play immensely. He had seen less power than this drive some people absolutely mad. Severus was well aware of his weakness and desire for power, and knew that power like this, over another person's life under his protection and control could be abused and mistreated so very easily. It would be all too easy for him to grow addicted to the heady feeling of having someone like Harry at his absolute mercy, so he limited temptation. He knew just how easy it was to absolutely destroy someone with the amount of power Harry had intrusted him with, which was something he was going to avoid at all costs. Harry was precious to him, and there was nothing in this world that would ever make him harm him.

There was a thin stripe of blood along a mark on Harry's thigh and he drew out his wand to heal it.

"Sev'rus?" came the sleepy murmur from the face half buried in pillows.

"Yes?"

"Unless they need stitches, or are too visible, they're mine. Heal those marks and I'll kill you."

Severus smiled slightly, pulled from his darker thoughts immediately as he was reminded that Harry was not a mindless slave, he wasn't even a submissive, and needed far less protection than Severus had originally thought. Harry would never let Severus abuse him, the young man just wouldn't stand for it. Harry's surrender of power was a true gift, one that he would have no trouble immediately reclaiming by standing up and saying 'no', or retaliating if he truly felt that he was was being hurt, mistreated, or taken advantage of in any way. He submitted only because he wanted to.

"Hey! Cuddle time is not over. If you are up there just so you can be self-deprecatingly angsty I'll turn you over my own knee and take the crop to you. I'm not bleeding to death and you didn't damage me so stop fussing and get back here, you are wrecking my afterglow."

Severus reached out and grabbed one ass cheek firmly, fingers digging harshly into the welts. "I am merely admiring my work, the fine shape of your nubile arse, and debating on whether I have the strength to give it another go tonight Mr. Potter."

"Oh, well, that's alright then. I'm probably good for another go after some food and a wipe down at the very least. And seriously, don't heal them, I like them."

"You will be aching for days then itching from the scabs and you know it."

"Worth it. Think Dobby is done cleaning up yet?"

"Does it matter?"

"No. Hey Dobby! Towels and a snack tray please!" A large platter with a pile of hot, steaming towels, a pitcher of water, a fruit assortment and strawberry yogurt, fresh veggies with ranch dip, crackers, deli meats, olives, pickles, and cheeses appeared on the small table nearby. Harry wasted no time getting up still wrapped in his aftercare blanket and tugging Severus over to it. They quickly cleaned their hands and faces and wiped each other down before he sat Severus in a chair and curled up on the man's lap. Harry picked up a chunk of pineapple and popped it into Severus' mouth. Severus did the same to him with an apple slice, and they continued feeding each other bit by bit until both were full and content.

Harry's body was almost completely down from the endorphins, but he was still smiling happily, and probably would be for the next few days. He mentioned they should get a shower and the next thing he knew Severus had whisked him up and into the in suite and warm water was running and the sprayer turned on low. The liquid soap was mild and Severus' hands were deliciously sensual over his skin, even over the more tender spots. The marks on his back were probably worse than the ones on his front, but oh the ones on the front were nice. He already knew he'd have a hard time leaving a particularly vibrant one on his left pec alone, it was too easy to reach discreetly. Even his cock had that delicious ache of being thoroughly worked over both from the gloves and the sounding wand. Once he was clean he turned to Severus and reverently worshiped the man's skin and muscles with lips and tongue before following the trail with the soap. The kissing wasn't far behind.

Severus used a spray bottle filled with alcohol to mist over the worse spots once Harry was dry, before letting him put on his robe. They curled up on the sofa in front of the fire with cups of tea, and Severus handed Harry a large stack of letters.

"What's this?"

"Replies from my family towards our inquiry for assistance with the wedding. I thought you might like to look them over and see if any of them appeal to you. Just make sure to keep them hidden and return them when you are done."

"Any of them that you like?"

"I didn't read through them, I haven't had the time. Whoever is willing to do what you suggest or to honestly help, and not just take over is good enough for me."

"Got it. Did you talk to Luna?"

"Her suggestions are good, and I like the fact she would be willing to hold onto the story as long as we want her to. I think we should take her up on the offer. Maybe we can avoid getting the public into a frenzy for quite awhile."

"Have you gotten a reply from Lady Aurora yet?"

"No, but I should be hearing from her shortly. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if she decided to have it during Christmas just so she doesn't have to see me more than once in the span of three months."

"Since money is what impresses her we'll make you look so dashing she won't even recognize you. We'll pull out all the stops, I'll even wear my hair slicked back a bit to show off my scar, use the infamy to my advantage for once. I'm going to show you off like a trophy Mr. Snape, and I expect you to do the same with me. We are both going to behave like we've got the best catch in the world on our arms, and anyone who could possibly even _think_ otherwise is certifiably mad."

Severus genuinely smiled and pulled Harry closer to him. "It will definitely not be an act for me. But for you I'm even willing to act like a completely besotted love sick fool in front of them. I might even make you dance with me. Repeatedly."

Harry felt himself go pale. "Uh Severus, I'm seriously pants at dancing. I'm about as graceful as an elephant."

"Nonsense. I have intimate knowledge of your movement capabilities Mr. Potter, you would be fantastic at it. Here, I'll show you. Stand up."

"Severus really I-"

"Three years ago at the Yule Ball, you barely had any time to truly learn, and I also think you had no desire to. You were also forced to lead the dance and be the first one out on the floor. That sort of thing will make anyone nervous. Now hand on my shoulder, take my hand, and we are just going to move side to side. The direction we go, take the foot that is following your body's movement and cross it behind the foot that leads as you turn your hip out to the side a bit and end with your weight on that foot. Now come back with the opposite foot. Back and forth, back and forth. Nothing fancy, just back and forth. See you're dancing. Now, basic waltz, your feet won't cross each other so _tenet vinculum reflexio,_ and our feet are connected to the one in front of it. When you feel the tug move with it, when you feel a push, move that foot back. Forward, side, together, now backward, side, together. Again. And Again. Now we will just keep doing that. _Finite incantantum_. See Mr. Potter, you are dancing the waltz with me."

"It's much easier when you're the one leading it."

"Then that is how I shall teach you. Who knows, you might decide you like dancing so much that I will finally have someone to dance with at these gatherings so I am not hounded by chatty old women, or women of lesser parentage trying to move up a few ranks on the family ladder by trying to marry me. Despite who my father was, my mother was one of the highest ranked women in our family, and a direct descendant of the family founder. I do believe one of the reasons that Lady Nicolette despises me so much is she doesn't think I am living up to such a heritage." He spun Harry gently before drawing him close again.

"Starting tomorrow, we will meet everyday in the Room of Requirement for at least two hours. I will teach you Dancing, Etiquette, Dueling, and Formal Table Manners. They will be expecting you to know, and they might expect us as early as Christmas, so I'm afraid you will just have to start behaving in my class, delegate many of your duties with the W.D.M.L. to your co-conspirators who have more time on their hands, and schedule your quidditch practices for either VERY early in the afternoon or sometime after dinner."

"And still find time to study and do all my homework. Is there any chance I could bribe you with blowjobs to lessen the 7th year workload?"

"Not if you want to be prepared for your Potions N.E.W.T."

"Damn. Okay, if you want me to behave, could you tone down the level of classroom hostility by at least two notches then? It's far easier for me to concentrate when you don't have that growly or sarcastic undertone to your voice. Trying to measure and accurately prepare things isn't easy when you've got your 'wicked tone' going and I've got a stiffy in my shorts from remembering all the things that voice has gotten me to do on a regular basis that has nothing at all to do with Potions."

"Very well. Although I make no promises if someone is truly deserving."

"Agreed."

"And now Mr. Potter, I am afraid it's rather late and there is class tomorrow."

"I'm aware of that, but you are also up for another round it seems."

"Merely the physical manifestation of having a nubile young man I am attracted to moving against me, I assure you. Besides, I will see you tomorrow night."

"Spoilsport." Harry complained as they stopped the slow dancing and he pulled the man closer until they were just standing there, holding each other, when a suspicious thought ran through his head. "You're not going to make me dress up for these lessons are you?"

"It's traditional. Bring dress robes and clothes you can move easily in. I will supply the rest."

"Bastard. I _knew_ there was a catch."

"I'll be dressed up as well if it's any consolation."

Harry pictured the man in the black robes with the slight sheen to them, and the high mandarin collar, the long, fitted cuffs going nearly halfway up his forearms with a row of small silver buttons. silver thread embroidery detailing accents here and there and a pleat in the back that revealed a peak of green when he moved... Harry was nearly drooling... "That could be an adequate compensation..."

* Chastity Scene being re-worked*

A wave of Severus' wand and Harry was dressed again, the fabric was a sharp reminder of his evening's activities, and the chastity device made his denims feel a bit too small. He would truly not be able to stop thinking, feeling, and remembering this night for quite awhile.

He pulled Severus into a deep hard kiss, and just to torment himself further, ground a bit against Severus' thigh while their tongues dueled and danced and Severus hand gripped his still smarting bottom. Harry broke away first and took a few panting breaths before kissing Snape chastely, gathering his invisibility cloak and disappearing beneath it. He was on his way out when he remembered something and smirked. "Hey Severus, catch!" A brief flash of white and Severus instinctively caught the object. "Goodnight Love, sweet dreams." And the chamber doors seemed to open and immediately close of their own accord.

Severus looked down and smirked at the shredded briefs from under the chair that he'd completely forgotten about. Minx.

TBC

* * *

A/N: Well, Happy Birthday to me!

The chastity device Harry was locked into is this one. (remove spaces) NOT all images are work safe!

www The-Impaler-Tube-Locking-Male-Chastity-Device-FFF062 .htm


	12. Time and Again

A/N: I am leaving this chapter up, and have edited it as much as possible to be site compliant. I will be editing the other chapters one at a time after I have gone through them, until then previous chapters will be missing all intimacy scenes until I can make sure they won't get me booted.

Chapter 12 Warnings: Minor2, M/M, chastity device, H/J,

* * *

Chapter #12: Time and Again

* * *

Harry sat in History of Magic slightly hunched over in his seat as he entertained himself by discretely rubbing that favorite mark on his chest with his thumb. He'd known he wouldn't be able to leave it alone. It was three days since the spontaneous rough play, and all the lesser marks had faded away to nothingness, and only the most severe still gave him that pleasant ache when he poked at them. The one on his chest was one of them. Tiny pinprick and thin scratch scabs were also all over him from the vampire gloves, especially his backside, and a few of them were itching a bit.

Changing his shower and dressing routine had been the hardest thing, since he couldn't let his dorm mates see and get the wrong idea. So he'd been having to get up an hour before he normally did in order to avoid everyone else so he could shower and change in the morning, and then he would catch his second shower either in the changing rooms after the rest of the team left after Quidditch practice, or in the fully stocked adjoining bathroom after his lessons and resulting 'reward' in the Room of Requirement. Then he'd change into his pajamas in the sanctuary of his closed bed curtains.

Not even Ron knew that Harry and Severus played rough sometimes, and honestly he didn't want him to. So since he had insisted on keeping the marks, he had to hide them and the chastity device, because he really didn't want to try and explain that one. It had been three days of delicious torture to wear the thing, and honestly he was growing rather fond of it, he seriously couldn't wank, he was completely dependent on Severus for any kind of release, and he liked the fact that Severus alone could touch him. He wasn't short on orgasms either. The threat of orgasm denial should he not do well in his lessons, was well heeded. He hadn't even truly complained about the dress robes he had to wear, since Severus was true to his word and also got dressed up.

Harry found he didn't mind the dance lessons, he'd remembered more from the lessons three years ago than he had thought, and it was a lot easier with Severus leading. Heck it was almost fun, and definitely sensual. Severus moved with silent poise and grace, Harry felt like a clumsy bumbling oaf beside him, but his dark lover was also quite patient, since he knew Harry was actually trying.

Dueling however was great. During the first four years of his school career he'd always wanted to know how to truly fight, especially with everything that kept happening, and Severus had absolutely no problem giving him one heck of a run for his money over the past two years, in order to make sure Harry had a chance of staying alive. Hexes, curses, spells Severus had invented and was the only one who knew how to throw, defend, and counter attack against. The man even checked out books from the restricted section for him to read since it would look far too suspicious to give Harry a pass. His lover was a veritable well of knowledge and experience that he more than willingly shared with Harry.

Severus didn't mind fighting dirty or even down right filthy, and had no qualms about teaching Harry to do the same either since 'your enemies would never deign to be so merciful in turn', and that 'the entire point of a fight that serious is to win it by whatever means necessary'. Harry knew Severus was right, you couldn't be too prepared when it was your own life and the lives of all your loved ones on the line, and a lot of the stuff Severus taught him would have turned Ron and Hermione's stomachs by how violent or vicious it was. He loved his friends, he really did, but they just didn't have that ruthless streak that Severus and he had, even if Harry's was buried deeper than most.

The Room of Requirement had served them well the past two years, and Harry had enjoyed working out his sexual frustrations on something productive when they had still been on intimacy lockdown. As they had advanced the spells, the targets did as well, becoming more and more real as time went on. They were now full fleshed apparitions which screamed and writhed and even bled before fading away. It had left him shaken the first few times it happened, but Severus, stoic as ever, had merely commented; "Did you think the victims of such spells would stay silent for your benefit? Best to get used to the sounds of battle now, so that you do not freeze when it is real."

He supposed he had learned well under Severus' tutelage since now he was starting the training center implementing many of the things the man had taught him. And now Severus was teaching him dueling, blades mixed with spellwork, knives that could double as wands, enchantments on steel unlike anything he'd ever seen before. It was a beautiful, deadly dance of magic and metal and form, and he was apparently halfway decent at it if the approving look in Severus' eye was anything to go by. They were going to be learning fencing next, and Harry couldn't wait.

It had come as a surprise that Severus knew how to fence, given that Harry had always thought of it as a 'rich person sport' and Severus didn't seem the type. But the potions master simply told him that though his immediate family had been poor, (due to his vagrant, despot, muggle father), he had still been raised in the traditional ways and skills by his magical uncles and male cousins. That included everything that Severus was now teaching him and "things you should have been taught since you were two." The man had groused the day before, after realizing just how lacking Harry's knowledge of wizarding culture truly was. So the lessons were going to expand into all the things his parents should have taught him if he had been raised as a magical child in the wizarding world instead of as a muggle, as well as the high society stuff too. "You cannot live and function in any society if you are completely ignorant of its rules, culture, and customs."

Harry shifted in his seat just a bit, at the memory of the hard look that had been in Severus' eyes along with that growling purr he got in his voice, and got that lovely reminder that he was locked down tight until later this afternoon. Yeah, he was definitely becoming fond of the device. Maybe he could make it until Christmas.

* * *

"...pages 247 to 256 on the Wizengamot Rules of Acquisition regarding conquest of territory and foreign property when not in times of war, by Thursday, with half a scroll on the ways it affected the civil war of 1672, which in turn led to the 1678 war with Wizarding France. Class dismissed."

Harry jotted down the assignment quickly and decided to take his lunch in the WDML headquarters that day to get some work done so he wouldn't be so swamped on the weekend. Severus had told him to delegate his duties to Ron and Hermione, which worked for all the smaller things, but there was a problem with the rest of it. Being the head boss of the operation, you had the final say on most things, and even if you delegated the duties to others, nothing got going until it had your stamp of approval or signature on it. There was a lot of paperwork that just couldn't be done by other people.

Their office was empty when he got down there, and the paperwork was waiting on his desk in the supply closet turned office under a disillusionment charm that he pressed his amulet against to make it appear. He groaned as he saw the amount of work waiting for him.

"Need more hours in the day Harry?"

He spun around to see Hermione coming in behind him with another large stack of paperwork and a wry smile.

"A few extra free days in the week wouldn't hurt either." He agreed solemnly.

There was a short pause. "I agree with you there. ... Harry, I wouldn't normally suggest this, but... you're getting pretty far behind on things, and it's really important stuff. Do you think four would be enough to catch up? Days I mean. That should be more than long enough don't you think?"

"What?"

Hermione looked distinctly uncomfortable but determined. "I'll give you four days if you swear to me you will use them only to catch up on your work and you'll stay out of sight the whole all, Dobby can bring you anything you need, the storage cabinet folds down into a bed, and I finally got the wards up on the door, no human can see it unless they are a member, so you won't get caught by Filch."

"Hermione, what are you talking about? I can't miss four days of class to hide out down here and catch up, trust me, they'll notice I'm gone."

"No they won't." She said and pulled something out of her pocket that looked like a muggle pocket watch.

"You still have the time turner?"

"No I had to turn that one back in at the end of the school year, but last year, when we were at the ministry, that cabinet with all the time turners in it that was smashed, I- well, I grabbed the unbroken ones, because I know how handy they can be, and no one was going to know they were gone with how badly it was blasted, and I didn't want the Death Eaters to get the ones that were left, and..."

"Hermione, you're brilliant!"

"It was a just in case, you know, if something went wrong, a chance to fix things if it all went pear shaped. I was going to give them back once everything was all over..."

"Hermione, it's okay, you did the right thing, who knows what could have happened if they had gotten a hold of them. So how do I use this one?"

"You swear it will only be used for work? I can't have you getting away with all sorts of mischief just because you'll have an unshakable alibi as to where you were."

"Hermione, have any amazing pranks or world changing events happened in the last four days?"

"No."

"Then what are you so worried about me doing? I promise you, it's only so I can keep up with everything that's going on. I might drop by the training center if I get done with the mountain of work early, there definitely won't be any chance of me running into my past self there. That's it, I swear."

"I'm holding you to that. Alright this one is simple, it's a chronograph that goes back full days instead of hours and doesn't go back more than a week at a time. So if you wanted to go back a month you would have to jump back week by week. You set the day you want, make sure you are holding it, and then press the latch in as if you were setting the time. It's 12:16 on Wednesday, so you will be going back to 12:16 on Saturday. I was down here Sunday morning through the mid afternoon, so make sure to hide."

"You could just come with me, it's not like we would be missing anything since we will be returning right when we left. That way you can make sure I stay out of trouble."

"I- oh who am I kidding, you're right. Come on, before I change my mind."

"Will Ron feel left out? We left him behind last time we jumped back."

"Left out on four days of solid work, possible meetings, and a weekend he'll be stuck inside for? You're kidding, right?"

She grabbed the huge stack of paperwork along with some other files and reports, Harry jotted down two quick notes and sent one off before pocketing the other, then clasped their hands together and pushed the latch in with a tiny 'click'. The world spun around them for a moment before stopping abruptly and she let their hands fall.

"Alright where were you early on Saturday afternoon?"

He sent off the other note and moved to set up his desk. "Library for my Charms essay, and then I camped out in the Great Hall for most of the afternoon studying, the common room was too noisy. I didn't come anywhere near this place, no worries. Let's get to work."

It had seemed like a good plan at the time, and really, they were getting a lot of work done. Dobby brought them lunch and promised to bring them meals whenever they asked. Between the two of them they balanced the budget and had made a good dent in the paperwork before curfew Saturday night. Hermione transfigured two desks into another bed for herself and all seemed to be well.

But after that first night, Harry realized he hadn't thought things entirely through before jumping back in time. He wasn't seeing Severus every day for his lessons, therefore he wasn't getting any relief from the chastity device. He was fine the first night, but by the second day he couldn't stop thinking about it after waking up with morning wood that was physically painful and he had no way to relieve it. The cold shower didn't do much for it either, since all he could think about was showers he'd shared with Severus. It took him physically thinking of very unwanted things to get rid of the discomfort, but he still seemed to have sex on the brain and every movement reminded him of why. There wasn't going to be any relief until Wednesday evening, and his libido had finally brought it to his attention loud enough for his brain to listen.

"Harry pay attention! What's gotten into you today? We have to get out of here before my other self arrives. Where should we go?"

"Dumbledore and Snape are going to be very busy today, and Snape will be stalking the halls a few times, so getting out of the castle is probably a good idea. Today would probably be best to visit the training center, my other self will mostly be out on the quidditch pitch until curfew, I only took a few breaks from it. Any idea what Ron was doing today?"

"He hung around with me for most of the afternoon, I doubt we could get him away to join us without running into my other self. Let him enjoy his day, trust me he'll have more fun with me than he would at the training center with... us."

"Uh huh." Harry said with a knowing grin. "C'mon the hidden passage that leads to the Honeydukes cellar, it's the easiest to get to from here, and it will quickly get us past the wards so we can apparate."  
Even though it was the halls of Hogwarts which had been his only true home for the past six years, it vaguely felt like they were invading enemy territory in disguise, and Harry was glad he'd had his map and cloak on him when they had decided to go back in time, or sneaking might have really become a problem. He threw the cloak around them when they reached the corridor for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, then tapped the hump of the one-eyed witch and whispered dissendium and ducked into the portal without being seen.

The moment they were in the Honeydukes cellar they had to immediately hunker down again. Two associates were busy cleaning up the store room and organizing and taking inventory. They looked like they might be at it for hours. Pulling the cloak as tightly around them as they could, and Harry for once wishing he was back in his tiny 12-13 year old body for the afternoon, he watched as Hermione drew her wand and soundlessly pulled out the nails in the side of a crate as far away from their hiding place as she could get. Ten minutes later the last nail was out and with the tiniest tapping charm the crate gave way on two sides, spilling out hundreds of wrapped ice mice and sending the crate atop it crashing to the ground and covering the floor with Chocolate Frog packages. The disturbance was more than plenty of a distraction for Harry and Hermione to make their way up the stairs and into the shop proper. They were in luck and a Hogsmeade resident was just paying for a box of sweets, so it was not a problem at all to follow him out the door when he left. They ducked into the outskirts of town where no one would hear the sound of disapparition and they held hands, gripped their wands and whirled off across Britain.

* * *

Carlisle was their first stop, followed by Manchester, Coventry, and finally Cardiff. Hermione could have probably gotten there in one jump, two at the most, but Harry was not as good at apparition as she was, and safety was far better to him than risking a splinch while illegally time hopping, leaving Hogwarts without permission, and apparating without a license, though Hermione had hers. They arrived fairly close to Cardiff Castle in Bute Park and made their way to a ring of stones illusioned to look like a small copse of saplings to Muggles. They walked around it counter clockwise and tapped the southernmost stone of the lot. It split in two and they walked through into a room that was empty except for a single white door, and a little dial with several colors on it and a tiny arrow at the top. Eventually the door would go several hundreds of places, and all you would need to do was enter the right combination. Hermione turned it left to green, right to brown, left to purple, then twice around to red, and tapped the knob three times. The door opened into a proper little office, and she spun the dial to clear it before shutting the door behind them once they went through.

"Oh, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger!" Said the girl behind the desk, quickly standing to her feet. "I didn't get your note that you'd be coming today, I'm so sorry."

Harry smiled "Relax Yvette, I didn't send a note, we just happened to find ourselves with a couple of free days on our hands so I thought we'd get caught up on the happenings. Has everything been going well?"

They started down the hallway behind her desk, and she grabbed a large binder and followed.

"Yes sir, you've almost been sending us more people than we can handle! The physical evaluations for the new arrivals are going to be starting at four, and the instructors are just preparing the field now. We've refurbished the barracks and have just been expanding the library again Ms. Granger. Some of those anonymous donations sent in books that haven't been able to be found in nearly five hundred years! We're quickly getting one of the most valuable collections in the wizarding world without spending a knut! How on earth did you manage it?"  
"I convinced a couple of very old wizarding families to break open their vaults and see what was in them that they wouldn't mind donating. People rarely want to look through several crates of old books that have been sitting in a vault for however many generations. All the better for us."

"Well many of them are very useful, and the research and development staff have been drooling in anticipation. Battle spells that fell out of fashion centuries ago and were rarely recorded due to their lack of popularity, Charms that aren't even listed as known spells, and I just know Mr. Princeton is going to love some of the potions journals we've found. Some of them have potions whose instructions many thought had been lost when their creators died. There's even a family who either created or discovered an entirely different type of magic, and they had several generations of records on its use and capabilities. We have been readying a preliminary report about it for you. A few of the books we've collected from other donations have been determined to be so out of date the material is nearly worthless if not harmful, so we've set those aside to see if anything useful could be salvaged from them.

There is also the entire original hand written manuscripts of Fancy Flywright's Dark Love series, all eighty-seven volumes, including the extremely rare ones; 'All Howl's Eve', 'The Potions Mistress and the Prince', 'The Ties of Transfiguration', 'Love by the Bite', 'Charmed My Heart', 'Beneath the Bloodmoon', 'Branded By Beltane's Light', 'The Sorceress and the Shaman', 'Bound by Blood', 'In Service to the Stars', 'The Housewitch of Wicker's Way', 'I Do and Do Knot', and the unfinished eighty-eighth manuscript 'Runed by Candlelight, that she was still writing when she died. Just one of those books would be worth a fortune on their own. We could sell them as a set, collectors would be in a bidding war over them, we'd be set for life. Unless of course you wanted to keep them Ms. Granger, for the spells."

Hermione was blushing fiercely and Harry was trying not to laugh. "Steamy bodice rippers for bored or lonely witches? How are those worth money?" He questioned, desperately trying to keep a straight face.

"They aren't just bodice rippers Harry. Fancy Flywright was an extremely controversial writer who was also a very talented and powerful pureblood witch back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Her novels not only had controversial or taboo pairings, like young women or men seducing or being seduced by vampires, elves, veelas, nymphs, werewolves, and even centaurs, and also taking the 'lesser role' in them, but she also paid no attention to the class system at the time, which made it even more of a scandal, since she was considered a noble.

The scenes were extremely sexual and graphically described, even by today's standards, and featured elements of what would today be considered BDSM. Most of her books included bondage, sexual servitude, and finding ecstasy in pain, but in those days those topics were completely off limits to talk about. The spells and rituals she used in her books were of her own creation and a basis for a true practice of sex magic. Everything was real, and not regulated through 'proper' channels. She was intentionally giving the little people access to a powerful form of magic that was usually kept hidden and never discussed, especially with those considered of 'lesser birth' like muggleborns, who the upper echelons of pureblood society didn't want in their world at all, let alone breeding, and sex magic was a powerful art.

When a few muggleborn women tried some of the things described in her books and found they worked, her popularity went through the roof. Once word spread, Muggleborns and halfbloods started buying her books so fast they had a hard time printing enough to satisfy demand, and the purebloods eventually noticed and wanted to know what all of the fuss was about. The scandal was huge, just for the content and her station alone, but when the purebloods found out the spells worked, the purebloods confiscated as many books as they could and burned them. When she published more in protest, she was arrested, her books became illegal to own, and she was ordered to stop writing. She secluded herself away, eventually got married, had children, and seemed to settle down. Some people believe that's where her story ended until her death, and that she was later blamed for a copycat ghost writer's work.

But many people believe she never stopped writing, and that her husband, whom she had won to her side, helped her secretly start publishing dozens of new books under the name Flora Fancy, including the original ones with new titles. And this time they were sold in the muggle world in a bookstore that only muggleborns and halfbloods knew about, and since they were sold in the muggle world with muggle money, they weren't technically illegal.

Fancy's fans spread the word about her possible return and this time kept quiet about it. The books even became the basis of an underground sex magic movement. If it was her, then she got away with it for over two decades, until one day an auror got a hold of some of the books during a raid, and when he recognized the content and realized they were new printings, well they scheduled a raid on her house. Someone managed to warn Fancy and she was able to get her children to safety right before her floo was closed off, anti-apparition wards were erected, and a mob of pureblooded aurors descended. She and her husband held them off for ten weeks solid before someone cast fiendfyre and burned them alive in their house.

There was nothing left that could be used as evidence to prove her guilt or innocence either way, and even with an order from the Minister of Magic, the goblins refused to open up her personal vaults so anyone could search for proof. Her children refused to cooperate either, in fact after removing their funds, they had the vault sealed off and disappeared into the muggle world. Her guilt or innocence became a debate of legend, some think either she or her husband were the ones who cast the spell, others think they were murdered.

The biggest argument was that if they were innocent why did they resist arrest for so long, and others said that if an angry mob of people who had destroyed your life in the past came to your door determined to do it again and trapped you inside, wouldn't you fight back? It didn't help that it was later revealed that the original aurors who attempted to raid the house hadn't gone through their superiors, since they had listed only one auror going to ask her to come in for questioning, not mentioning that they were bringing nine other people along for a full out raid, and it was only after they called for backup that an order for search and seizure was made. The whole thing became a huge embarrassing sore spot for the Auror Corps and their policies and procedures were completely reworked.

Either way, the magic in all of the books was determined to be real, and if we now own her original handwritten drafts of all of the books, we pretty much now own the only true proof that Fancy Flywright was also Flora Fancy."

"How on earth do you know so much about this?" Harry asked incredulously, trying to not seem interested in getting a hold of a few of the manuscripts, because really, bodice rippers? Severus would never let him live it down.

Hermione blushed again even harder. "Hogwarts has one of the books in the restricted section. "By The Book." I came across it hidden behind a bunch of others, and started reading it, and well... I could tell the spells being used were real and I thought it was fascinating how she hid them in a book few men would even touch and that was marketed directly to a specific group of suppressed women. So I thought maybe she was a suffragette or feminist and researched her to see what else she had written, only to find it's still very much looked down on to buy or sell her books in the Wizarding World. Luckily ours were donated, probably by someone who had no idea what they had, or were afraid of being arrested for owning them. Though if they are the original manuscripts they could only have come from three places; her family's estate, the editor, or the publisher, and I'm betting family if there is an unfinished one among them."

"Lucky us then. So Yvette, are you just Wizard Spacing it or did you transfer the whole library somewhere else?"

"We are stretching Wizard Space as far as we can. We are turning every square inch into as much as twenty cubic meters of space. We don't have much choice, some of the donations have been upwards of five hundred crates at a time with each crate measuring two meters wide, long, and tall!"

Harry smiled, knowing that he was going to be bringing back quite a few things for Severus when he got to the present time again. "Well if you need more space just let us know, we've just been granted the unlimited use of an unplottable island near the Isle of Wight, and we should have it connected to the dial by next week, it would make a fantastic place to create a library and possibly even our base of operations. Oh right! before I forget, I need you to set up a meeting with as many of the sponsors as possible for this afternoon. I know it's short notice, but it's when I was free. And a meeting with the senior trainers and helpers too, just me and them I have some kinks to work out in my newest pet project."

The training session for the new recruits was put on hold until the next morning, so that Harry and Hermione could watch, and the rest of the day was filled with business planning, reports, files, budgets, and the approval on the small scale medical division using the surplus of that years budget and then working it solidly into the budget for next year. It kinda made Harry's head swim to be honest, and Ron would be on hands and knees thanking them that he hadn't been dragged along if he ever found out what he missed, but Hermione was completely in her element. She had everything in order, a rebuttal to every argument, and a way over, around, or straight through every barrier put in her way. She had no problem going head to head with all of their private investors, and getting them to practically throw all the money at her she asked for, even if half the people in there were old enough to be her father. Harry once more thanked his lucky stars that she was on his side, otherwise he would have been lost without her. They had lunch in the canteen, nothing as fancy as Hogwarts, but decent nonetheless, and then toured the facility and all of the changes it had gone through since the last time they had been there during summer vacation.

* * *

Last summer had been their first test run of things, and lucky they had done it then too. Through a series of dark wizard traps, spying, misinformation and misdirection, they had managed to infiltrate the ministry and stop a coup that would have resulted in the new minister being assassinated by Voldemort and taking over entirely. Harry's senior staff had literally kidnapped the minister right in his own office and used a nifty charm they had developed that combined a charm to create holes and portals in walls without destroying them, a disillusionment charm, and a basic chameleon charm to camouflage yourself in plain sight. A lot of the muggle born kids were calling it the ACME hole charm. It created a small pocket of space in a solid object that you could go into without any change to the original object. You could still see everything going on around you, but from the outside you were completely unnoticeable even if they were only inches from your location, like a one way mirror. And the only way you could cast it is if you had one of their amulets to aid you because they contained a balancing charm that helped mesh and support the interwoven magics better, otherwise the charm unraveled in less than five minutes.

His team had hidden the minister in his own office and made him watch as Voldemort himself had busted down his door, spells blazing, only to find his query gone. Then moments later being attacked on all sides by strange magics he couldn't see, from opponents he couldn't locate, and eventually being driven out altogether by the alerted aurors after losing four of his canon fodder lackeys. All essential personnel had been protected, and Voldemort had been driven back by an unknown enemy or defense. He honestly thought he'd been set up by the people who had claimed to have made the ministry easy pickings for him, and had probably killed them accordingly.

The minister however had been completely won over to the people responsible for saving his life and stopping the defeat of the ministry. They won the silent financial support and approval of the Minister of Magic, who had promised to keep any knowledge of them silent until they chose to reveal the entire organization at a time when they were strong enough to oppose Voldemort openly. They had used every knut wisely, and had opened an entire division dedicated solely to Research and Development of anything that could possibly be used to give them an edge. The minister had donated resources and Unspeakables that were experts in combat, charms, transfiguration, and potions to help them along, and recommended private investors who were all too willing to help as long as no one knew they were doing so. Harry was fine with that. And even though they had to constantly make sure he didn't take over or become a financial crutch or powerhouse in the organization, Harry had never been happier that they had saved a career politician.

* * *

As he wandered around what had once been a public school that had shut down due to lack of finances, Harry realized that they really were building something special here. It wasn't just to keep him alive, though that would be a fantastic bonus, they were going to change the entire Wizarding World bit by bit and make it even better than it already was. Something about that thought thrilled him. He was going to matter for a lot more than a scar on his forehead, and that was something to be excited about.

They stayed the night, and on Monday they had the first field assessments of the newest group of recruits. Two and a half grueling hours of pure combat and obstacle courses, followed by facing down their soon to be instructors one on one in order to judge where individual weaknesses and strengths lay. And at the end of the ordeal stood Harry, as a final test, to see if they could fire at those they did not want to, should that person become compromised with Imperio. Half of them were shaking.

"I am NOT The Harry Potter you all think you know and have read about, I am a victim, a puppet on a string being manipulated by a dark wizard staying at a safe distance. I could be wearing the faces of your loved ones, your mothers, your brothers, your best friends, and I WILL be out to kill you. Your only choice is to take me down or out. I will not recognize you, I will not show restraint, I will not hear you, your words will not affect me unless the puppet master commands me to react. My job is to lure you in, and to act solely as a distraction and a human shield. Your job is to incapacitate the dark wizard, which would free me from the Imperio. Hermione here will demonstrate."

Shock and Awe was right, he doubted any of them had expected Hermione to actually place Harry under Imperio and use him to start attacking the recruits one by one. But they had been friends for years, she was one of three people he trusted implicitly and so he didn't fight it as the blissful haze came over him and he started following her orders. Recruits fell left and right, several of them just too stunned to react at first. But a few turned down right fierce as they fought back, and most of them managed to free him in about five to ten minutes. Harry had a headache by the end of the exercise, but it was worth it. The group was divided based on current skill rank after the marks were tallied, into the classes of either Base or Fielder, no one qualifying to go any higher just yet, which was expected of completely new recruits.

Pleased with the results of the exercise, Harry and Hermione headed back inside, only to be greeted by a group of the senior trainers, including the Sebastian disguised Severus Snape who was looking at him intently. If he didn't know better he would think the man was trying to perform legillimency in front of all and sundry. After the round of cursory greetings, Harry excused himself to get cleaned up, promising to have the meeting in one hour.

* * *

It really came as no surprise that Severus discretely followed him, so he didn't jump when long arms wrapped around him in the middle of his shower, a wicked hand trailing down the slight curve of his hip and inside until a single finger flicked against the cage encasing him, making Harry arch and moan and practically melt into the embrace. Three days without so much as a smoldering look, kiss, or touch... Harry was desperate for any kind of physical contact.

"Please, please touch me, I've been absolutely aching for you, please." He was turned and practically slammed against the shower wall, he didn't care, his arms wrapped around Severus' shoulders and dragged the man into a desperate kiss.

The dark man didn't disappoint and claimed him fiercely, tongue and teeth devouring and dominating his mouth utterly before moving down to his neck. Harry couldn't see it yet but he knew there was a bright red hickey on that spot now.

"How far back did you jump to not have a single mark on you, when just last night I know I left you so delightfully well marked and chewed you demanded I let you keep each one?" Came the dark growl in his ear as that wicked hand palmed him again, a solitary finger somehow stroking in a way Harry could only describe as obscene.

"Wednesday at lunch, AH! Yessss Oh Severus PLEASE! Three days without any relief, I need you, please."

Think carefully Harry, if that is what you really want from me right now. I will have you wear it until Christmas, so I can unwrap you at my leisure but the four days before that, I will rile you up Harry, taking every opportunity to drive you wild and not grant you any relief. Is that worth starting your punishment over again a bit later, and at a more intense rate than you are experiencing now? Or do you want to hold out that last 48 hours until the end of our lesson on Wednesday when I'll turn you over my knee, and paddle that arse of yours to a flaming redfirst? Either way, you WILL go a full 120 hours without relief, it's up to you if it's now or later."

"One condition."

"Yes?"

"If I wait through Christmas, will you do it at your family's home? Somewhere someone you hate might accidentally overhear just how desperately I want you, and how satisfied you make me, rub it in their faces just a bit more that they'll never get to know just how good I have it and it's their own damn loss."

Harry could feel the smirk against his lips as Severus's fingers wordlessly undid the padlock and undid his entrapment piece by piece and set it on the soap dish. "Ah, My Harry," The potion master purred as he took Harry's freed and over sensitized cock well in hand, "You truly are a delightful treasure." Tangled tongues and roaming hands and Severus jerking him off, Harry's head was a mix of sensation and emotion and half formed thoughts that had him swimming in a half coherent delirium for several blissful minutes. "Now, My Harry." and Severus' teeth biting into the unmarked side of his neck had Harry's body going rigid as a bow string as he drew up and released, his cries choked in his throat, every single muscle locked until it was over and leaving him shivering and clutching onto Severus for support because his legs felt about as steady as cooked spaghetti. Harry just wanted to spend the rest of the day wrapped up in Severus' embrace like this, but as the haze faded from his brain he remembered he still had a meeting to get through today, and Severus was rock hard against his hip.

Harry nuzzled into Severus' chest as the older man turned off the shower and cast a drying charm over them, while Harry let his questing fingers wander down along the firm shaft.

"Fantasizing again?"

"Mmmm definitely. Hand or mouth, what would you like? I'd offer you everything for the whole day but we are out of lube and running short on time I imagine. So how may I please you?"

"You already have, but this treat I'm afraid, is not for you, it's for my good Harry back at Hogwarts who has NOT jumped back in time and left the protection of Hogwarts. And he will be getting his reward after he finishes his evening lessons. I'll be sure to make it a memorable occasion for him. You on the other hand will be left wanting until Wednesday night to see me again, and I think we shall be having quite a bit to talk about."

"And why is that? If I wasn't at Hogwarts, I was here. I haven't been up to any sort of mischief or fooling around, I've just been catching up on my work, as promised."

"That's good to hear, however you still broke Agreement 16. And that's in the Top Twenty Harry."

_Agreement 16. If I have to leave a secure location, I will inform Severus about it as soon as possible._

"How can it be breaking Agreement 16, when as of agreement 42 this place counts as a secure location?"

"You still left Hogwarts without telling me and did you really apparate from the very edge of Hogwarts wards to here in one jump, no other stops along the way?"

"I mean I told you! I sent you a note, both of you a note, one right before I left and one right after I arrived saying I had gone back with Hermione to catch up on some work and that I could be found in the office or here at all times. And yes, except for split second landings between jumps to get here we made no other stops along the way. Believe it or not, I have been listening to you these past few years, you really need to start learning to trust me a bit more. I'm not stupid Severus, I know what's at stake, stop treating me like a little kid."

Severus suddenly remembered the small paper airplane that had crashed into his chest and landed in his soup at lunchtime the other day. He hadn't thought it could be a note from Harry since the boy had been chatting animatedly with his friends, completely distracted. Severus had crushed and banished it immediately without further thought and spent the rest of lunch trying to search out the culprit.

His volatile lover was now mad at him and for good reason, it was a hard habit to break, being overprotective and trying to regard Harry as a fully capable adult instead of child that still needed guidance and constant watching. He drew Harry back into his arms, tilted his chin up and kissed him, Those verdant green eyes glaring and slightly hurt.

"I know you're not stupid Harry, and I never meant to imply that you were. I apologize, I didn't get to read your note, so I was unaware of your actions. Forgive me, I still forget that you are no longer a child who requires my protection."

It took a moment before that glare softened and Harry wrapped himself back up in Severus' embrace again and nuzzled into his chest. The potions master was always perplexed on why that was a favorite action of Harry's, it's not like he had a lot of chest hair to play with, if that soft of thing was appealing to the young man, but Harry did it every time he could. He'd never admit it but Severus found it rather endearing.

"I'll always want your protection Severus, even though I'm not a kid anymore. I'm your lover now, I belong to you completely, so I doubt there's anything you would protect more fiercely. But you can't smother me or act like I'm still completely helpless. You taught me how to fight, how to protect myself, how to defend others, even when to run away. Have some faith in your own abilities, I know I do."

They stood there, nude on the damp tile and holding each other another few minutes before Severus pressed a kiss to Harry's hair and released him.

"We need to be getting back, and I'm afraid my ardor has waned."

Harry turned the shower back on and sent the spray at Severus. " 'Ardor' or not I've spent a lot of time being a human shield against new recruits today and you interrupted me in the middle of my shower. The least you can do is help me make sure I don't reek after a forty minute wash up. Scrub my back for me?"

Severus just smirked and grabbed the soap and started working it into a lather. "For as many times that you get me to start or prolong intimate encounters in showers and tubs with you, you are leading me to believe that you have a water or grooming fetish Mr. Potter."

"If it's taken you that long to figure that out, then I take back everything I ever said about you being a genius. Besides, you started it."

"I did?"

"Yep, I'm sure if you think hard enough you'll remember." Harry soaped up his flannel and methodically began scrubbing himself head to toe. But his knees nearly buckled halfway through because after Severus had finished with his back he had rubbed a small handful of shampoo into his hair and was now working it in with deft fingers and lathering it up in a way that was threatening to have Harry rock hard and orgasming again in ten seconds flat. He couldn't stop the moan as one shampoo filled hand started washing the hair between his legs. He had to brace his hands on the tiled wall as Severus trailed soapy fingers downwards in a gentle caress and pressed a kiss against one of the marks he'd left on his neck.

"Yes I remember, I remember you being nothing more than melted butter in my hands at the end of the night, I remember how hard it was for me to not lay a hand on you even though your eyes were begging for me to never stop. If I had known you had wanted a repeat performance I would have done so sooner. How can I fulfill your fantasies if you don't tell me what they are, My Harry?"

Three firm strokes and he was finished, crying out and arching back into his lover's arms as he watched his seed hit the tile near his feet and mingle with the soap suds and shampoo lather there before it was washed away down the drain. He shuddered and panted as the water pounded against his head and neck, removing the last traces of the soap and leaving him a clean, satisfied, and weak in the knees boy hero. He hardly noticed when the shower spray was turned off and the warm breeze feel of a drying charm passed over him for the second time. Severus then took up the chastity device, sterilized it and tenderly worked the stainless steel sheath back onto Harry and locked it into place. As the sound was lubed and gradually slid home, Harry swore it was more intense and intimate every time Severus did it, and his head nearly drowned in sensation.

"Will you be returning to Hogwarts tonight?"

Harry nodded weakly.

"Come to my chambers after curfew, and I'll let you have something you've been wanting for awhile. Surprisingly this situation has finally granted us a much desired opportunity. I'll see you at the meeting."

A final kiss against the back of his neck and Severus moved away. It took Harry a few more moments to remember how to get his legs to work properly, but he finally made his way to his locker and pulled out a change of clothes.

* * *

Once he felt put together again he made his way down to the meeting room, grabbing a mug of tea and half a sandwich from the buffet near the door. Everyone else was already waiting and chatting politely. Remus and Sirius, Severus, Hermione, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Kingsley, and the Unspeakables who didn't go by names but numbers one through six.

"Hey all, sorry about the short notice, but thanks for coming. I wanted to introduce our newest members, Bill A career curse breaker and specialist with wards, and defensive magics, Charlie, a dragon handler and expert in all aspects of magical creatures, and Fred and George, renowned pranksters and owners of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, and also remarkably gifted spell and potion creators.

I know you know most everyone else, but just to simplify things, this is Unspeakable Number Two; our resident Combat magics specialist, and head trainer of the advanced groups Marksman through Unit Leader.  
Number Five; Head of Research and Development, and all Experimental magics. Interrupt her work only if you want to be blown up.  
Number One; the Head of all ten of our greenhouses and our growable potions ingredients, and assistant to Sebastian. Interrupt her work only if you wish to be poisoned.  
Number Three; Our Charms, and Transfiguration expert, also assistant to Number Two and head of the starting troops Base Level through Ranger.  
Number Six; our resident Mediwizardry expert and live in historian, He will soon be in charge of the library which should keep him busy for the next ten decades or so.  
And Finally Number Four; our resident string puller, negotiator, and legal counsel.

Hermione, and Ron, who unfortunately couldn't come today, are the seconds in charge of our Fledglings and Defense Association courses, to train up those who either want some practicals help with their DADA classes, or want to join but can't until they reach the appropriate ages. Fledglings are for first through fourth years and the DA is for fifth through seventh. Ron is also our head strategist and recruitment adviser, as well as assistant to Number Three, and secondary adviser to Number Two. Hermione is the head of our non-combatants, secondary head of our resources, finances, and business department, as well as assistant historian and librarian to Number Six.

Kingsley, working closely with the Minister, keeps us appraised of all the goings on and inner workings of the ministry on every level, in charge of a squadron of twenty watchers and soon he will have even more help.

Remus is keeping tabs on the werewolf and vampire clans and is also in charge of the pack of thirty-eight werewolves we took away from Greyback a few months back, most of them children.

Sirius is the head of recruitment outside of Hogwarts and secondary pack leader to our werewolf clan, as well as our main source for acquiring private financing and donations from old pureblood families. He is also the head of our quidditch department.

I don't think any of you save Ron, Hermione, and the Unspeakables have met my second in command, and the one who has made most of this possible for us because he helped us pull my idea together. This is Sebastian Tobias Elius Princeton the Third, our head Spell Developer, Charms Master, and Potions Guild Elitist. He's also the head of our Reconnaissance Division and direct superior to the Unspeakables. So if there's a problem and you can't get a hold of me, ask him.

Snape is our head spy of course and assistant to Princeton, so again, if you can't find me or Princeton, tell Snape.

Dobby is the head elf of all our displaced house elves whose former masters have either died or given them clothes. We have hired all of them, so we have a veritable army of help, and have even convinced them to wear a green and gold uniform of sorts. They can be summoned only by people with amulets, and an unchangeable, self updating record log is kept of all elf activity and summonings, and they can refuse to do anything that violates one of my rules for them since I am the one who holds their contracts. I am looking at you Fred and George, no house elf guinea pigs.

As for me I do a little bit of everything. Hermione makes sure to keep me buried in paperwork, I run the Fledgelings and DA training exercises personally, and also train the non-combatants in basic self defense and spell work. I approve and assess all new recruits, I run training exercises here whenever possible, and am the head of the combative flying squadron, that's right we will also have an aerial corps division, even though it's still in the early stages. I am also the acquisitions and appropriations committee. You need anything, from an order of quills and suggestions for your favorite foods to be served in the dining hall, to a fifty-six pound bulk order of Romanian stink weed, you put in a request with me. I also handle, shall we say, any huge annoying snags that come up, and that's the real reason I have called you here today."

Hermione handed out copies of a personnel file to everyone in the room.

"I have a brilliant sixteen year old, third year Base Level trainee named Sheradon Westerly in my DA group who will be turning 17 in a matter of months and will then qualify to advance into the true WDML, and he could most likely test straight for Marksman if we let him. However I have several reservations about letting him do so, especially since I am given to believe that he's pushing himself so hard not out of a desire to protect, but out of a desperate desire for vengeance. Mentally we fear he's hitting the wrong side of dangerous, might become a loose cannon or worse a rampaging murderer if he's pushed in just the right way, and that's a bad combination in my corps. So Hermione, Ron and I have come up with a plan to nip this issue in the bud. It will not be in any way kind to him, and a very large shock to the system. We intend to force him over that edge one way or the other. It will either wake him up or it will result in his obliveration and decommission in the League as a combatant. I don't like taking such drastic measures, but I refuse to let someone we trained possibly go rogue and jeopardize our entire mission either, especially if we saw the signs in advance and could have done something about it. His brother is already on board and has agreed to act as our hostage. However in order to do this as safely as possible and in a controlled group, we are going to need the whole training facility to be on board with this since when the time comes we are going to need volunteers in a full combat scenario using true spells. This won't be a drill, I plan to shock and scare the hell out of this kid. All non-participating combatants will be on total barracks lock down until the end of this exercise, and only advanced combatants can participate if they want to. We are hoping to keep all injuries to a minimum and are going to use Princetons' tenth level Real Illusion targets. If anyone else has a student that is showing any signs of not realizing their future targets are real people under the masks, I want you to include them in the exercise on my team without their knowledge that this mission isn't real. When the time comes, there will be very little notice before hand, though I will try to give as much as possible. Any questions?"

"How are you going to shock him?" Remus asked as he flipped through Sheradon's file and the plan for the exercise.

"His pregnant mother and baby sister were killed by Death Eaters right after he joined up. I intend for his main adversary to be a pretty and young pregnant woman with a similar hair color and style under the mask. She'll be a tenth level target just in case he does go for the kill. For those new to us, Baser, Fielder, Footman and Ranger levels are not full combatants, they are not trained to kill and do not participate in life or death scenarios, they learn advanced defenses, non-lethal combat magics, evasion and espionage maneuvers, tracking techniques as well as field medicine. It is only once they reach the advanced levels that they are trained in lethal battle arts, full combat situations, and life and death scenarios, and this is why I'm concerned. The moment anyone in the DA turns seventeen they have the ability to take a completely unbiased test for any level they choose based on skills alone. If they fail they have to test downward until they reach a level they pass, or they start at Baser and work their way up. Sheradon has never failed a single test, therefore we have a very small window of opportunity to judge if he is able to make the decisions needed to jump the equivalent of four grades, bypassing all of the non-lethal training and defense classes and moving straight into arming himself with very deadly magics, and that he is doing it for the right reasons.

Any other questions? Okay then, I want everyone to read up on this case and contact me if you come up with any concerns or suggestions. Otherwise, I guess meeting adjourned, next meeting will be on the next Hogsmeade weekend, if you don't know the location of any other portals, an amulet visible portal will be set up there behind the Shrieking Shack by that time and the meeting place will be at coordinates left white, right blue, left purple, twice right to gold. Thank you for coming and please help yourselves to more refreshments."

Most everyone chatted and snacked for the next hour or so, Harry nearly started laughing as Sirius started happily talking with Sebastian and acting like they were the best of friends. "Princeton huh, would you happen to be related to the Prince family by chance?"

"Yes I am a direct descendant of the family founder on my mother's side."

"Wow that's got to be a lot of pressure and expectations, your family is practically considered wizarding royalty compared to the rest of us pureblood lines. I'm heir of the Black line myself, you can only imagine the scrubbing I've been trying to do to clean up that mess of a lineage, not to mention trying to clear my own name."

"The trick is to live beyond the expectations of a simple name, disassociate yourself from it entirely if need be. Truth is I am not a pureblood, I am a halfblood. Once my father died I cast off his name, he was an insult to all muggles and not worthy of having his family name continued. But to some of my family I still live under that shadow of his legacy. However I refuse to let that define me, as you shouldn't let it define you, the truth win out eventually if you are persistent enough."

"SO true. Hey do you drink? The pub here has some great firewhiskey, let me buy you a glass..."

And that was the last Harry heard as Sirius all but dragged Sebastian down to the pub attached to the dining hall. His godfather would flip if he knew who he was really talking to, but it gave Harry hope for the future. Eventually the crowd dispersed and Hermione and Harry tied up all the loose ends, Harry also discreetly grabbing several of the potions journals, and one of those Fancy Flywright books, (The Potions Mistress and the Prince) before heading back to Hogwarts. They finished up the last of the paperwork for the day, had an early supper, and Hermione at least dropped off to sleep before nine.

* * *

Harry ducked under his invisibility cloak and wandered down the twisting hallways of the dungeons before coming to his lovers rooms. The door was still unlocked and he slipped inside just as the curfew bells rang. He shut and locked the doors behind him, able to tell by the light and warmth of the room that Severus was already there. His cloak was laid over the arm of the couch and he made his way further into the room. Severus was reclining on the couch in the living room with a small smirk on his face as he looked up at him.

"I not only had a civil conversation, but a decent time with your godfather today."

"I'm glad. Was it difficult?"

"No, I actually got to be myself instead of constantly on the defense. It was unexpected."

"Can I encourage more of such meetings? I think if he gets to know you well enough he just might not die of shock when he finally finds out who you really are."

"Yes, and I am working on a way to dispel the rest of the animosity between us as well. He at least trusts me now, I can build up from that."

Harry went over and curled up on the couch between his fiance's legs, and smiled as the man slipped the collar around his neck before giving him a slow gentle kiss. "You said you wanted to give me something."

"Yes, a night to ourselves. We were rather interrupted last time."

And so they sat there, Severus reading to Harry from a book they were going through and slowly carding his fingers through untameable black locks as the young man curled up against his lover's chest and just listened to the seductive sound of Severus' voice and the steady beat of his heart. Eventually he tugged the throw from the back of the couch and drapped it over the two of them and Harry swore that not even sex could beat the bliss and warm comfort he was feeling right now. Eventually though, the day caught up to him and he started nodding off. Severus stopped reading and set the book aside before kissing the top of Harry's head.

"Come on love, time for bed."

The drowsy teen hated those words, because they always meant going to a bed that Severus wasn't occupying. He stubbornly tried to cling tighter, refusing to give up this warm and safe position just yet.

Severus just chuckled at him. "Come on, budge up, or do you no longer want your reward for following the rules?"

"Reward?" Harry mumbled half coherently, trying to get thoughts to connect properly again through the haze of near sleep.

"That's right. Come on."

Harry eventually managed to move, which got his brain working a bit more. Severus walked back to the bedroom and Harry followed a few moments later after stopping off at the bathroom to take care of physical needs and brushing his teeth. He hated communal bathrooms, especially after curfew, they were terrible for discretion, so it was good he left extras of most everything in Severus' quarters. He then wandered into Severus' bedroom and stopped in his tracks. Severus was in his black silk pajamas and was just crawling between the covers. When he saw Harry he smiled and drew back the covers on the opposite side.

"Change and get in here, I still have classes in the morning after all."

"I don't understand."

"You'll hardly be missed from your bed if you're already in it Harry, so for tonight and tomorrow night, we can finally share the same bed, that is if you are still agreeable to the idea."

If he didn't know better Harry would swear that was mirth he saw in Severus' eyes. He had never gotten changed into pajamas so fast in his life and practically pounced on the man as he kissed him firmly. "You are bloody brilliant, I never would have thought of it because of those time travel laws."

"Nonsense, I've gone back a few times myself, and had very involved conversations with my past selves as well."

"Seriously?"

"Of course. My past self already had the time turner, and knew what it did. I am also a man who only implicitly trusts himself, so how great of a leap of logic do you think it was for them that possessing a time turner, I might at some point in the future need to use it to travel back and warn the only person I would implicitly trust about something he could still change?"

"I- actually that makes a lot of sense."

"Exactly. That rule exists to prevent people from going back and giving themselves future information for their own personal gain, not for making sure they don't go crazy and have their past selves try to kill them. Now, bed. Seven AM already comes far too soon for my tastes as it is."

Harry couldn't stop smiling as the lights went out and he curled against Severus' side under the blankets after giving his brilliant fiance a slow sweet kiss goodnight. "Goodnight Severus. I love you." He smiled as Severus pressed another kiss to the top of his head. Warm, comfortable, and in his opinion, in the best place in the world, Harry quickly fell asleep and into dreams.

Severus lay awake awhile longer, just enjoying the young man in his arms. "I love you too Harry." He murmured in the darkness, then also let himself relax and finally fall asleep next to his lover for the first time.

* * *

TBC (Much sooner than last time)

* * *

A/N:*fist pump* YES! Finally! I have been stuck on this chapter forever! Sorry this has taken so long to get out, not only did real life get hectic and 'splody, and I had to get through one of my (emotionally) very hard times of the year, but I also got a rather large bit of writers block on this story and had to put it down for awhile. But I'm back now and I hope you all enjoyed it.


	13. Progressive Interlude

A/N: Oh Yes KR I am definitely still writing this one, it is in no way, shape, or form, abandoned now or ever, this one is SPECIAL to me. But I admit that other fandoms have been demanding my attention lately, as well as real life interfering with my writing time, and really awful writers block attacking me on this story hard. All together they have rather forcefully dragged me away from writing anything for quite awhile now, but yes, no matter how long it takes, I PROMISE I am never abandoning this story... though I may go back and tweak it at some point, fix some continuity errors, expand some scenes, do some polishing... but not right now.

Also if any of you want to stay current on my writing progress and updates, you can follow me on facebook, there is a link on my profile.

This is merely a nice bright warm bit of comfortable plot development before the next chapter because I really like where it left off, it's been far too long since I have posted anything, and I didn't want to make you all wait even longer while I finish it up. So far it's been coming along quite nicely too, so it shouldn't be too much longer unless my comp starts being mean again. *(Saves every time I make a change no matter how small.) This is the third time I have tried editing this chapter and have lost everything. GRRRRRR.*

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Chapter 13 Warnings: M/M, Minor2, Kissing, cuddling, tub scene, WAFF.

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Chapter 13: Progressive Interlude

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_**To Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**_

**_I have received your letter requesting an appointment with me to arrange a family dinner to introduce your betrothed, however my schedule is inordinately full, and as it seems several members of the family are quite enthusiastic about the idea of such an event, I do not feel it necessary at this time to discuss whether we should hold it or not._**

**_We will arrange for it to occur on December the 19th at Grand Marsh Hall, drinks and appetizers to be served at half past five, with dinner to be served at half past six. You and your betrothed will be expected the day before, at your convenience, and we shall meet upon your arrival at that time. We shall handle all of the arrangements and preparations of the dinner ourselves, and in recognition of tradition shall be expecting you to stay at least through Yule._**

**_We require you to provide us with a full guest list as well as any potential dietary restrictions or allergies either you or your betrothed may have. Dress shall of course be Relaxed Formal for the dinner and Yule, and Wizarding Best for the Christmas Gala should you and your betrothed be staying that long._**

**_We look forward to your visit and extend our congratulations to you and your betrothed._**

**_Sincerely, Lady Nicollette Aurora-Bastion-Thallonius-Prince, head of the Noble House of Prince._**

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Severus smiled as he sat at breakfast reading through the letter. Oh he could practically _feel_ the ice creeping through those words, he hadn't known if or how she was hyphenating her name these days, so had simply gone with her current married one. Heh, he could only imagine her trying to keep up the Ice Queen act when she found out who Harry was.

The other letter that had arrived was a small simple note, unsigned. 'Wizarding side of The Hobgoblin, Thursday 5:30 PM, Camden Town.' Severus smirked and changed the time to 5:00 PM and whispered in his bird's ear on where to send the note before finishing his breakfast.

Harry and Hermione managed to finish up all the rest of their work by mid morning and decided to take the afternoon off to relax and congratulate themselves on a job well done. They played exploding snap and took a long, walk around the lake under a disillusionment charm while everyone else was inside with classes. It felt rather like ditching, even though their other selves were in their classrooms.

After dinner, they began working on creating one of the portal doors together, which were a really tricky bit of magic. Getting them to have a bit of wizarding space behind it with a dial and door wasn't the issue, it was creating the dial itself that was so difficult. To convince a single piece of magic to become very widespread and still lose none of its power until it wound around at least one other portal to gain strength from was the hard bit.

Until they could weave its magics with the other portals it had the tendency of flickering out and becoming glitchy or getting too much power behind it and becoming volatile. Not to mention programming every combination they were planning on using before attaching it's own code, and then activating the new combination to the other portals. Harry was glad they only had six so far, eventually there would be hundreds spread all over the globe. Hermione was still trying to come up with something clever but not too suspicious sounding to call them in case they started talking about them where someone could overhear. Harry was just calling them Lockers, since the dial reminded him of a combination lock, only with colors instead of numbers.

It would take a few more days before the door would be fully ready and Severus could sneak it down to Hogsmeade and set it up near the Shrieking Shack.

It was nearing 9:30 when they were reaching a stable stopping point, and he knew that his past self and Severus had finished up their nightly lesson about fifteen minutes ago, so it came as no surprise when Princeton opened up the door a minute later. Hermione smiled and beckoned him over.

"Hi Princeton, good timing, we're just finishing up for tonight and could use another wand. Will you help stabilize the inbound link while I set the dial colors and Harry fuses the failsafe to the outbound link?"

"Of course. Do I need to adjust for the ley line surge yet?"

"No, it's still inert, not even connected to the portal frame yet, only linked to the central door for base power so I can test the dial."

"Very well. You may release it... now."

"Great. Alright Harry, you're up."

"Right, lower your shield half a notch, it's not letting me connect the link, and if I force it it will be BAD."

"Is that enough?" She asked, trying to lower it without reducing its effectiveness.

"Smidge more... got it. Okay on the count of three. One, two, THREE!"

They connected the dial to the outbound link and the failsafe, and the whole door lit up with a glowing hum for a moment before fading down again.

"Perfect. Alright and now we hook the inbound link to the dummy dial just as a precaution so we don't have any surprises... and we're done for tonight. Thanks Princeton." Hermione smiled as she holstered her wand and stepped back.

"My pleasure, and since you are finished I think I will be kidnapping your assistant for the rest of the evening. What time did you both leave tomorrow?"

"Quarter past noon, in here." she replied distractedly, putting away their tools and covering the door with a magic dampening cloth so it wouldn't pick up any residual ambient magics that could mess with it.

"Very well I will see you at lunch then. Good night, Miss Granger."

"Goodnight Princeton, night Harry."

"Night 'Mione."

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Harry was hidden under his invisibility cloak and walking right behind Severus as the man made his way to his own quarters. A few Slytherins passed them by on their way and politely greeted their head of house. It was a shame he couldn't actively recruit from this house, they couldn't ALL be aligned with Death Eaters after all. Heck he knew that two of his silent partners were direct relatives to students in Slytherin, but anonymity was their one request, so he didn't have a connection in the house besides Severus, and they couldn't have risked something that big. Maybe if Draco ended up working out... Merlin, wasn't that a thought, Harry and Draco working together on something. He still wanted to knock the arrogant prick down a few notches, but he'd gotten the feeling that after failing Voldemort, Draco and his family had all had a pretty big slice of humble pie. Arrogance oft leads to folly and all that. He doubted they would ever be friends, but maybe Draco could still be redeemed. He almost snorted, Severus was right, He did have a 'saving people thing'.

The rooms were warm and inviting, so comfortable that he just immediately relaxed. He tried imagining it, next year, after they were married and bonded, coming home with Severus without being hidden under an invisibility cloak. Finally having one place in this world that was truly HOME, where he was welcome and wanted, and had a place, and not having to hide the fact that he was in love, and his scar and his past and his fame meant fuck all, somewhere he was absolutely safe and able to let his guard down.

His thoughts were derailed with the feel of long fingers under his chin, warm lips on his own, that talented tongue slowly invading, conquering, possessing every inch of his mouth, and deep piercing eyes that made no secret of wanting to devour him whole. That was fine, really, they could do that, no rush, Severus could take his time with it, savor every bite of him he wanted to.

The cloak was discarded, robes, trainers, and jumper followed suit, just seeming to ease off and drop to the floor without notice. He traced the edges of Severus' robes, slowly unhooking the buttons. There was a fresh hickey, just there under the collar that his other self had placed there not even a half hour ago. Why did it feel so deliciously naughty to trace that mark with teeth and tongue, to nip and suck on it, leave it even more intense than his other self had done? Why did it feel a bit like cheating, that he was stealing Severus from himself? This felt just the slightest bit forbidden and he loved it.

The robes fell to the ground and they made short work of Severus' shoes and shirt sleeves as well. They stood there, gilded in firelight in the warm comfortable rooms that Harry would soon be calling home. But suddenly realized how mistaken he had been. He already had a home, he already had a place, he didn't have to wait for it, it was already here, Severus had been waiting in it, saving a place for him all this time. He was already wanted, he already had somewhere he belonged.

There was a moment of surprise for the potions master when Harry broke the kiss and instead burrowed into Severus' arms, wrapped his own around him as tightly as he could without hurting him, and nuzzled into Severus' chest. The potions master's arms wrapped around him, one across his shoulders and one around his waist, and everything was perfect. This was Harry's special place, Severus' pulse against his cheek, a slight tickle of chest hair against his nose, the body heat, the scent of Severus' skin, his arms, strong, warm, and holding him close, Harry never wanted to move again.

"Thank you." he murmured, placing a gentle kiss against the man's sternum and trying to fight down the tears threatening to well up in the back of his throat.

"For what?" The potions master queried, carding his finger through unruly black curls.

"Giving me the only thing I've ever wanted." Harry tightened his hold. He never wanted to let go.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Severus said with a hint of an affectionate smile that went completely unnoticed.

"A home."

There was a pause and a kiss to the top of his hair. "An important thing to have. And one I can assure you that I will always provide."

Harry wasn't looking, but if he had been he would have seen the hint of steel in Severus' gaze. The words may as well have been an oath signed in blood and sworn upon his magic with how much Severus meant them.

"What about you?" The boy hero asked, wondering if he was doing everything he could to make Severus happy, the way Severus had already done for him.

"Me?" the man asked, clearly confused.

"What do you most want in the world?"

Severus went very still, and the arms around him drew a bit tighter. Harry thought he might have crossed a line, Severus never was much for opening up about the emotional stuff. He was starting to believe the man might not answer and was getting ready to apologize and say it was alright, that he didn't have to, when there was another kiss to his hair.

"Things that you have already given to me long ago and continue to prove at every turn. Unconditionality."

"What?" Harry asked, looking up and trying to see if Severus was poking at him a bit for some reason. Severus placed a finger against Harry's bottom lip.

"Unconditionality. That's what I've always wanted."

"You're being cryptic." The young man accused, and was sorely temped to nip at that finger.

"Of course I am. But you have already provided me with it, so it's nothing for you to worry about me lacking."

Harry bit the finger. Severus smirked and leaned down to kiss his impish lover, then bit Harry's bottom lip sharply in return before pulling away. "It isn't nice to bite, My Harry."

"It isn't nice to tease when I'm being serious either."

"I wasn't teasing."

In a way it would have been easy to explain if he had wanted to. Acceptance, trust, respect, love. Harry had given them all to Severus without any restraint or conditions, even knowing that Severus was a man of many secrets and in the center of a web of carefully crafted lies and deceptions. But still he hadn't even hesitated, he had simply asked '_Just don't lie to me about the important things. And you don't have to manipulate me to get me to go along with what you want or need, just ask, I'm always on your side first, and want to help you however I can._'

And from then on he couldn't bring himself to lie to Harry about anything, it was completely unthinkable to even try and do so. The night dealing with Creevy was the closest he'd come, and he couldn't truly count it since it was only so Harry would not blame himself for what had happened. He would never let Harry think for a moment that he had betrayed him, it was the kind of thing that would forever eat away at Harry, and Severus absolutely refused to allow it. Harry hadn't cheated, he'd been tricked and assaulted, and if Severus had his way that dark memory would never surface to poison Harry's thoughts again. But he WAS a man of eternal secrets, and speaking any of them aloud was not his strong suit. When it was safe to do so, after this whole mess was over, he'd do more than tell him, he'd show Harry how he felt, let him into every hidden nook of his memories to experience Severus' emotions for himself and to truly let Harry know him in a way that no other ever would, and that words alone could never express, the same way Harry had already trusted him to do.

Severus took Harry's hand and led him to the ensuite. The tub was filled with hot water and Severus poured in an herbal infusion. He removed Harry's jeans and the chastity device, then helped Harry into the tub. They relaxed there together, Harry between his legs, resting his back against Severus' chest. Severus soaped a flannel and slowly washed Harry's arms and chest, gradually working down to his abs. Harry wasn't expecting sex tonight, not after the man had just given his past self his nightly reward for doing well in his lessons, and Harry found himself perfectly okay with that. Sex was a nice bonus to getting to spend time with Severus, but there was so much more to them than that, two years of enforced celibacy had rather proven the fact. Neither one of them was unsure of the other in the slightest anymore. Their silences were never awkward or filled with things unsaid, and he knew that his heart had chosen right when it chose Severus. Harry would never regret a single second.

His hair was wet down, then lathered and rinsed, then thoroughly worked through with a conditioner and combed smooth before rinsing it out. Harry was languid and relaxed under the gentle care, he loved this atmosphere of serenity, where nothing needed to be said or done, there were no expectations for either of them, they just did whatever felt good.

When Severus was done, Harry leaned back and kissed the man slow and sensual. Without thought Harry turned around and began reciprocating, soaping the potion masters chest up and then washing it off with the flannel, before straddling Severus hips and continuing to bathe him in return. Washing Severus' hair was something he had never done before. Severus' eyes closed in obvious enjoyment while Harry's fingers massaged his scalp, working the lather from root to ends and unashamedly playing with it for a few minutes just because he liked the feel of it running through his fingers covered in suds. He rinsed and conditioned the straight black locks, so much easier to manage than his own unruly mop, and found himself shivering in pleasure as he slid the comb through easily. Oh Severus was right, he did have a fetish didn't he? Well at least it was one his lover seemed to have no qualms about fulfilling because he didn't think he could stop. Severus hadn't opened up about too many of his own desires yet, mainly because the sexual aspect of their relationship was rather new, and he had refused to tease either one of them with things they couldn't have at the time.

Harry rinsed the conditioner out methodically only to find himself gasping as Severus grabbed his hips and pulled him forward.

The tongue that invaded his mouth was warm and welcome and Harry shivered with pleasure as Severus' hand worked into his own hair and massaged the back of his head. Bliss, pure bliss until the kiss ended and Harry was flushed and smiling, slightly out of breath. He hadn't missed the message:  
_'I love you.'_

"I love you too." he murmured in between kisses and then gasped as Severus' teeth trailed down to his neck and bit firmly, drawing the skin between them with firm suction, worrying and marking Harry in his favorite way and sending fire racing through Harry's veins. The young man moaned and drew himself closer to the source of such delicious torment.

"Mmmm."

Severus licked at the deep purple hickey he had made, and nipped it again just to hear Harry gasp.

A moment later Harry was guided to his feet, dried off and tucked back into the chastity device, then wrapped in a warm fluffy robe.

"Come Love, before your hair dries like that." Severus purred with a kiss to Harry's earlobe.

He was guided to the clothes bench and sat obediently as Severus gently brushed out and dried his hair, something Harry never bothered doing, until it fell to the tops of his shoulders in loose curling waves rather than sticking up everywhere in a wild tangle.

"Very nice. Long enough to be tied back into a queue should you choose to." Severus commented, drawing the temporarily tamed strands back in demonstration of his point. The effect made Harry look more mature, and somehow stronger.

"Only if you do it, I'd bungle it up for sure." The green eyed teen chuckled.

"Very well, for the dinner party then." Severus replied, tying it back loosely right then and there with a black elastic tie near at hand.

"Get a response yet?"

Severus pretended not to notice the hint of anxiety in Harry's voice. Harry didn't like to admit it but he was very nervous about meeting his future in-laws.

"Yes, this morning. To be held the day after school lets out for the holiday, we are invited to arrive the day before."

"She doesn't waste time does she?"

"She doesn't wish to spend more time in my presence than absolutely necessary, we are expected through Yule at the very least, though I am tempted to stay through Christmas just to irk her, we aren't introducing you to the rest of the family yet, and I can wait a bit to do that. Even she's going to be questioning why I will insist on so much added security at a 'family dinner'. I can hardly wait to see her face."

Harry smiled, enjoying the hint of mischief he saw in Severus' eyes. "I think we should add a touch of color to your robes that night, perhaps some royal blue and a hint of silver."

"I agree, and emerald green and gold for you. It will bring out your eyes and give your complexion a warm tone." Severus went to the wardrobe for his nightclothes and pulled out Harry's collar as well, slipping it easily around Harry's neck when he returned and handed him some spare pajamas and his bathrobe.

"I still think all that stuff you ordered is going to look ridiculous on me." Harry replied, remembering how Severus had taken his measurements at the end of their first dance lesson and had gone on a huge shopping spree through catalogs and owl order the next day.

"Wait until you see it on. I know for a fact you will look quite dashing in it. Now what would you like to do for the rest of the evening?"

"There's chess, or curled up on the sofa reading to each other, we also still have wedding plans to arrange. I'm scared to meet a few of your female relations if their letters are anything like how they are in real life. One of them wants to know if I have picked a 'theme' yet, and another says it's family tradition for the female relations to sew the wedding robes, and would I like silk, satin, organza, or chiffon? And another wants to know what are my 'colors' my 'tone' and 'what season am I'? She also wants samples of my hair and eye color. They all sound mad!"

Severus chuckled and led them towards the sitting room stopping by the kitchenette for large mugs of hot chocolate and an assortment of biscuits before they settled themselves on the couch. He conjured a lap desk with parchment, ink, and quill for Harry, then summoned the letters for himself and began to browse through them.

"They don't know that you aren't my blushing bride yet, and that you don't have the ability to directly translate 'excited female' into common speech. They'll become very take charge and then try to take over once they realize you are male, so if there are specific things you want, you had best voice them now and get them all giddy about them so that when they do eventually try to tie us up and gag us, then they will all at least be headed in the right direction and thinking it's all their own idea.

Your 'tone' would relate to the 'tone' of the wedding; casual, religious, traditional, etcetera. As for your season, that has something to do with your skin tone color and I will send her some samples so they can figure it out for themselves. As for a theme, if you really want an outdoor wedding you had best speak up immediately, and when it comes to colors, for now I would go with greens, whites, and yellows, and then tell them you haven't chosen specific shades yet. Also mention how you want the daffodils and honeysuckle and ivy, even the dandelions if at all possible, you'll make them fall in love with you immediately." Severus said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Why's that? This is all getting complicated." Harry pouted as he continued taking notes.

"This is just the beginning. Flowers and plants traditionally have meanings Harry, and let's just say that the ones you picked mean some very good things. Also, for myself, I am very fond of gardenias."

"And what do gardenias mean?"

"Grace, hospitality, and secret love. The flowers are also notoriously finicky to work with."

Harry laughed and looked up slyly. "Of course they are. Do they have thorns too?"

"No, mores the pity. I've acquired several books about the Language of Flowers, you'll need them when our well wishers start suggesting other flowers to you. Even if you don't care much except for the aesthetics, the rest of the family will know what each one represents, so it's best to know what you do and do not want them to 'say' about us."

"Anything else you like that I can include with the plants and flowers?"

"White heather, lavender, and sage, though that means you should include purples on our colors as well. It will give them fits when they want to select flatware, your colors would have gone well with gold, mine go best with silver." He said with a sardonic smirk.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Terrorizing the relations already? It's not up to your usual standard."

"On the contrary, it's the little things that annoy my family the most. A stray lock of hair, a smudge on a shoe, bad grammar, or a non-harmonious color scheme is enough to keep them up nights." The Potions Master said with a very self satisfied smirk.

"So you are trying to drive the people who will be helping us, out of their heads. Doesn't sound very productive for getting things done."

"Trust me, give it a few weeks and you will be asking for ways to do it yourself, just wait. Also make a request in your most adorable tone that you have heard that Lady Fontaine makes the most spectacular Italian wedding soup, and we would be honored if she would consent to make it for the wedding, or perhaps teach you how to make it if she's too busy."

Harry laughed, he knew Severus had a weakness for good food, and a request that blatant could only mean one thing. "You've been trying to get the recipe for years haven't you?"

"Three decades, ever since I first tasted it. I'm hoping the wily old witch is growing dottery in her old age and will make a slip up. And even if she doesn't, just you mentioning the soup to them will get everyone begging her to make it, if for no other reason than it's traditional to serve it at weddings and you have never tasted it before. It's a family favorite."

"And what fabrics should I tell this other cousin of yours? What is 'organza' anyway?" Harry sneered, as if the word left a foul taste in his mouth.

"A slightly stiff type of silk, rather see through too. So is chiffon for that matter but it is a far more... mmm 'floaty' of a fabric."

"So my choices are silk, silk, silk, or satin?"

"No, satin is made from silk too."

"So it's 'how do I want my silk'?"

"Pretty much."

"At least they are making it easy for me. Satin then, or regular silk, maybe some velvet. I don't want anything see through or 'floaty', especially when I still don't know how to do that intimidating robe billowing thing you do. I'm glad Luna will be covering the photos and article, and how many of my friends will I be allowed to invite?"

"If it's a secret ceremony, only those you can trust to keep it quiet, if it's common knowledge then all of them of course. Granger, the Weasleys that are in the know, even Longbottom, I'm sure that will shock him. Your dogfathers will be there as well, Remus to keep the peace, and Sirius has to be there to recognize the bond as valid and that you are not there against your will. Of legal age or not, he's your closest magical kin and it makes the bond that much stronger when it is recognized by your kin. He doesn't have to approve of your bondmate, but he does have to accept that it is of your own free will. Although by that point I am hoping that he and I will have managed to reach a new level of civility towards one another to the point that he might even approve. At least that's my hope."

"Mine too. I know it's not easy for you though, with so much bad blood between you. Thank you though, for trying, but don't just do it for my sake. Sirius is really worth knowing, just like you are really worth knowing, you both just have all that awful history mucking it up between you. Joining forces would make both of you even more of a force to be reckoned with, he's nearly as good at the sneaky stuff as you, he just has more of a flair for the dramatic and a need for humor, even if it is off color. And together with the twins... I can barely even imagine it. I hope we can recruit Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before the bonding, I'd love to have them in the know, and be there, Mrs. Weasley has nearly been a mother to me."

"Black has assured me he is working on them. I'm tempted to tell him the best way to recruit Molly would be to make her angry at the headmaster, maybe even show her the memory of our conversation with Dumbledore the night I retrieved you from the Dursleys, or even show her MY memory from that night, she'd never trust Dumbledore again and she'd immediately drag Arthur and the rest of her brood after her in a furious huffing maelstrom, and that's why I hold my tongue. Molly fully withdrawing her entire family's support of the Order so suddenly and with such anger would definitely raise Dumbledore's suspicions. He can't know we've left him without any support until it is much too late for him to do anything about it. I know you want Moody in your camp, and I can't say I blame you, since he is the Headmaster's next major player after you and myself, but he won't be swayed by anything until Dumbledore falls from grace. He follows his perceived leader and no one else, and expects it of himself to take over should that leader fall. He won't follow you Harry, not as you are now. Not only do you have less experience, but it would be very hard for him to take orders from someone young enough to be his grandson. Moody has to be left with nothing to take over if his leader fails. If no one is waiting to follow him, he doesn't have to be the new leader, and _then_ he'd be open to looking at other options for himself alone, especially if you offer him something high in position with very little risk to his person."

Harry smiled. "I was thinking head of the combat trainers, dealing out training schedules and barking orders, occasionally kicking cadets into shape, whatever he likes really. I know what he can do, if he'd be willing to join us I'd be willing to let him have whatever job he wants if it makes him happy. He's good at organization and fond of making sure we don't get ourselves killed. He'd be a great asset if I could just steal him away, but you're right, he has no reason to follow me yet. I'm not going to give up on him though, he's far too valuable for that."

"I don't expect you to, though let's just stay focused on the bigger threat of weakening the Dark Lord for the moment."

Harry set aside the wedding notes and started a new page. "What else can we do that we're not doing already?"

"It's not something we aren't doing, we simply need to remain vigilant, keep training, and be extra cautious. We can't let our guard down just because we have been holding our own. He's getting more and more angry. His plans for the ministry were thwarted, Dumbledore is still alive, as is Scrimgeour, and very soon one of his biggest resources will leave him for good. He lashes out when he gets angry enough, and it has been awhile since he has made an attack against you directly, and only because he has been distracted by other things.

I have a feeling that very soon he's going to move against you again, and we must be ready for that. What's more I fear he may have me do it, so you must be ready for such an eventuality, for I know he would be watching that most closely, possibly even from your own eyes. I am able to guard your mind against all other intruders except for him, you are linked too strongly, his doorway into your thoughts is as open as my own should he care to use it, and you must be able to recognize his presence. I have placed every barrier possible that I can from that point on without revealing that it was I who placed them there, but after that, you must be strong enough to fend him off or trap him in one of the rooms of memory yourself, in this I cannot aide you more than I have already done."

The boy hero's brows drew forward in contemplation. "We need a signal then, in case it comes to that. If it happens, I want you to know I'll forgive you for anything you have to do to me in order to convince him that you are following his orders."

Severus shook his head. "Even if you could, I doubt I could so readily forgive myself. Hurting you on his orders, for his amusement... No Harry, there are many awful things I have already had to do in his name, don't let that become another. Take me down however you have to, nothing you do would be even half the pain of consciously having to do any of the things he would order me to do to you. Even I have my limits."

"Alright, you have my word. How about the tried and truly detested 'Boy' then? If you call me by that name, then I'll know beyond any doubt it's not really you, and to attack without hesitation or mercy until you are down. It shouldn't tip him off either."

"Agreed. I pray the time never comes where I will have to use it though."

Harry set aside the lap desk and took Severus' hand.

"Me too. I...I know you still don't believe me, but you **_are_** a good man Severus, truly. An evil man would never sacrifice even half as much as you have, especially for so little reward."

One eyebrow arched wryly. "So little reward? Do not sell yourself so short My Harry, you are worth far greater things than I think you will ever even realize. Just knowing a man such as you is a very great honor indeed. Earning your love however is a feat that I still can't comprehend how I have accomplished, let alone earned."

"Because unlike almost everyone else, I see the truth of you Severus Snape. I see the steadfastness, and the unshakeable honor, and the willingness to do absolutely anything to protect what you call your own. I see the real you, and it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. You are honest and true with me in a way that little else is in my life. I feel safe with you, and shielded, and I can trust you literally with my life. I pity the rest of the world for not seeing it too. I know you hate the spotlight, but you have no idea how much I want to drag you into it and tell the world I'm in love with you Severus."

Severus caught the note in his lover's voice and set the letters aside. He knew it was hard for Harry, who had always been told he wasn't worthy of love, or ever even shown affection by the Dursleys, to hide a relationship that he was so proud of as if he were ashamed of it. It must be getting to him more than usual, and he wondered what set it off.

"Hating the secrets a lot tonight?" He asked, holding out his arms to Harry and welcoming him in if he wanted to be held.

Harry just leaned in and wrapped his arms around Severus' waist, laying his head on the potions master's chest and just listening to his heart beating before sighing heavily.

"More than ever. I just... I want to shout it from the bloody rooftops, watch Sirius try to get through tea with me holding your hand the whole time and acting oblivious, while Remus tries to keep him in line, parade you around everywhere through Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade while hanging on your arm, then snog you right in the middle of the street with Skeeter watching before telling her there is nothing in the world that makes me happier than being with you. I just- ARGH! I know it would end up getting us both killed and blow all of our plans to shit, and we've worked too hard to throw it all away just because I don't like keeping my mouth shut about us. The only real reason I am dying to go to that dinner is so I can shove it in SOMEONE'S face that I love you and that every last one of them have no idea what they are missing, and that I KNOW I'm the lucky one here. I don't know how you stand it, let alone keep all the lies straight." Harry felt like pouting, but that would have been even MORE childish, so he settled for making a sound of frustration and avoiding Severus' eyes if the man was looking at him.

"I am afraid that I am used to it, in fact even when this is all over I doubt I will ever be able to live openly like you do, or at least not to the same degree. I am far too used to this. My whole life is a secret Harry, it's a hundred secrets buried in a thousand lies, and you are one of those many secrets I have to keep buried and hidden under layers of deception and misdirection in order to keep you safe, and for now that is just the way it has to be. But you do know that I am not ashamed of you, right? I only keep this secret to maintain my cover in The Dark Lord's and the Headmaster's camps. You are of age now, and we have done nothing to be ashamed of. In fact I can think of no one who i would be prouder to have standing at my side. They may not like it that I have taken up with a student, but you were of age, and therefore allowed to make your own choice, so there is nothing they can do about it."

"Yes, I know. It all just rubs me wrong and makes me want to punch all of the Death Eaters in the nose, and Voldemort where his nose SHOULD be, because it's all their fault. If they weren't part of it we could handle Dumbledore, in fact he might even wax romantic and turn into a complete sap about the whole thing. He's big on the redemption through love thing."

"To a nearly sickening degree yes. It's also what made him give Tom Riddle another chance, his unwavering belief that everyone always deserves another chance."

"Well Tom may have been a huge mistake, but you weren't. I'm glad you got your second chance, even though things have gotten so complicated now. I wouldn't trade you for the world. I know if you knew for certain that you would tell me, but is there any hint of a weakness you suspect in Voldemort? Anything I could use?"

"No, only the weaknesses you already know about. An unquenchable desire to acquire power, a fear of being defeated by you, a megalomaniac streak and ego a mile wide, and ruling through abject fear instead of loyalty. His foundations are shaky, the only reason he has power at all is because rich and powerful people feared him enough to not refuse when he ordered them to follow him, so now he controls their assets. In that regard, Lucius is his weakest link.  
If Lucius defects he will lose over half of his available assets, and that's a major blow. I have long suspected that the only reason The Dark Lord did not kill Lucius and his whole family outright was simply the fact that Lucius was not stupid enough to sign over anything to him in full, but happily granted the Dark Lord full access to what he had instead. He commands it, but he doesn't truly control or own any of the Malfoy assets. If Lucius died everything would go to Draco and Narcissa, who wouldn't continue following the Dark Lord, especially if it was the Death Eaters or Dark Lord who killed him, and if they died-"

"Wouldn't it go to Bellatrix? She's the eldest."

"No, there's the poetic justice. Walburga tried to have Sirius legally removed as Black Heir just like she wanted, that legally worked until Regulus died because there was another candidate for heir. She then transferred heir status to Bellatrix since Bella was older, but it couldn't stick since Sirius was still alive and male blood heirs will always outweigh their lesser female relations in a fight over inheritance rights regardless of age or who objects because they don't like them. Will versus Blood Magic, trust me Magic will always win. Once Walburga died, even though it had been in her will for Bella to be heir, Sirius' status was restored by default since there was no one to contest it. Bellatrix was in Azkaban just like Sirius, but she had been declared legally insane when she was put away and therefore unfit to manage the family affairs, especially since she had been sentenced to life. She was stripped of her title and rights as head of house. It went to Andromeda, the second eldest sister, who didn't want it, and unfortunately isn't strong enough of a witch to keep it should anyone challenge her to a duel over it. In order to prevent either of her sisters trying to murder her for either her money or the attached status of 'blood traitor', she signed over everything back to the true family heir, Sirius Black, because then it all fell to him to deal with, and he didn't care that she had married a muggle, so he was much less likely to kill her. Once he escaped and she learned the whole story, she also gave him full control of her own family estates, on the stipend that her own family are always well cared and provided for.  
Anything she received inheritance wise would immediately be under his control, and the Malfoys' control a lot. Sirius would shut down any funds and assets the Dark Lord was using and renege all privileges as well, and Voldemort would have no legal recourse to get them back. Bellatrix has no access to the family money and never will, one of the first things Sirius did when Andromeda handed things over was to cut off her funds and disinherit her completely, she's living only on a name and her husband's personal vaults. The only reason the same hasn't been done to Narcissa was purely for Draco's benefit, and the fact that Voldemort has never tried to sink his claws very far into Narcissa, not even far enough to have her hand over funds. For whatever reason he doesn't value her as a servant, which was a mistake on his part, she's a formidable witch when pressed. Removing the Malfoys' from the equation will weaken him significantly, because along with finances, he will lose his eyes and ears in the ministry, and all of his political influence on the Wizengamot."

"Very bad move. So is that why you've been trying to get the Malfoys away? Because it would be a major silent blow?"

"Yes, but also because Lucius has been my friend for years, and while he's made a mistake he is just now realizing the full severity of, he still has the potential to be a very strong ally. He would never join Dumbledore, he despises the man's ideals nearly as much as he hates the perceived fall of wizarding traditions, but we are not so light sided, and are politically affiliated and backed by the minister. Unless he intends to hide forever, of the three choices of whom to align himself with, I dare say we would look best to him. Lucius craves power and influence, he could never stand to lose as much as he would have to with Dumbledore in order to gain his trust, and no one leaves the Dark Lord's service and is stupid enough to return to it.  
There's no way he would get his hands dirty, but with us he'd lose very little in the way of pride and power and gain a very shining public image, that's not an opportunity he'd blithely pass up. He's also a very savvy businessman, and we need more of those. I know you don't trust him, and I'm not asking you to, just trust me, I can maneuver around Lucius any day. The only thing he could have used as leverage against me was turning me in to save his own skin, but he saved that card too long since I never tried to backstab him, and now he's realized it would do him very little good at this point, especially since I am the best chance he has for saving his family, and no one else would even try to help them that he would trust. He probably knows I'm going to demand several things in exchange for getting them all free, and I doubt he will regret any of them in the end."

"Mmmm I LOVE it when you're sneaky. What are you going to demand of them?"

Severus smirked. "Ask me no questions-"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Spoilsport, using Agreement 24, after getting me all interested."

(_'Don't ask about any plot that isn't offer freely because it forcefully brings the details too far forward in the mind to be hidden again easily or completely.'_)

Severus smiled. "It is necessary for now."

Harry pouted slightly. "Doesn't mean I like it, you KNOW I'm the curious sort."

"I know, and when this war is done Harry, I will let you see every plot, every scheme, the whole web in its entirety if you like, I will show it to you and no other because I know you can appreciate a good intrigue, and because I know you enjoy watching me make fools out of idiots. But until then I beg for your patience."

"You won't be getting off that easily you know, you'll be married to me. You're daft if you think the Wizarding World won't want to know as much about you as they do me once it all comes out, and it will all come out somehow, even if it's just because we have to set the record straight. Did you know I've had four offers for biographers already, and I'm not even out of school yet?"

Severus scowled. "Our family has a famous historian and biographer highly praised for his accuracy and restraint away from overly dramatic and flowery language. If the mood to have your memoirs recorded and published ever strikes you, you have my permission to use him and I will promise to not only be courteous but also to contribute if you so desire it. Otherwise I shall curse any other meddling snoots with as many hexes that come to mind at the time. Does that satisfy you?"

Harry smirked into Severus's chest, leaned up and gently kissed Severus' mouth.

"Yes, because no one can write my life's story accurately if they leave out or change the most important person in it. And I think you're sexy when you're being sneaky, it's like you're playing three dimensional chess while everyone else is just playing normally."

Severus was shocked silent for a moment and then Harry turned over and got comfortable, looking up at Severus from where his head rested on the man's chest.

"Read to me? I really liked it last night."

Severus sighed in a good natured way and summoned the thick, leather bound tome.

"As you wish. Where did we, leave off?"

"The one with the painter, and only drawing what was seen."

"Ah, very well. Number twenty five then. '_Let those who are in favor with their stars, of public honour and proud titles boast, whilst I whom fortune of such triumph bars, unlooked for joy in that I honour most. Great princes favorites, thy fair leaves spread but as the marigold at the sun's eye; and in themselves their pride lies buried, for at a frown they in their glory die. The painful warrior famoused for fight, after a thousand victories, once foiled, is from the book of honour razed quite, and all the rest forgot for which he toiled. Then happy I, that love and am beloved, where I may not remove nor be removed'_."

Harry smiled. "That one's pretty good, true too. Which one is your favorite?"

"I can't say as I have one, though I am rather fond of the story Macbeth."

"Not surprising. I liked A Midsummer Night's Dream, it's the most vibrant one you've read so far. Which story is next?"

"The Taming of the Shrew. I think you'll like it, you've been liking the comedies."

"Alright then let's start that one, I'm nowhere near tired yet."

"Very well."

Severus summoned a pitcher of water and a glass and tucked a blanket around their legs before finding the story and beginning to read.

* * *

A few hours later Harry was dozing contentedly on Severus' chest having laughed heartily over Katharina and Petruchio's antics and eventual cooperation together. It was late, the room was warm and quiet and the fire was dying down. Severus lay the book aside and softly stroked his fingers through the loose waves of Harry's hair that had escaped their tie and placed a gentle kiss to his head.

_"When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, and trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries, and look upon myself, and curse my fate. Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, featured like him, or like him with friends possessed, desiring this man's art and that man's scope, with what I most enjoy contented least. Yet in these thoughts, myself almost despising, happily I think on thee, and then my state (like to the lark at break of day arising from sullen earth) sings hymns at Heaven's gate. For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings, that then I scorn to change my state with kings."_

And transfiguring the couch into a decent bed, he curled around his lover and turned out the lights.

* * *

TBC

* * *

A/N: Yes, those were Shakespere's Sonnets, #25 and #29 respectively, along with references to some of his other works. #29 fits Severus so well I just couldn't resist adding it. And of course he only does it when no one else is looking. Has anyone else noticed he only waxes fully romantic when no one else can see or hear him except the audience? He just refuses to be a mush ball, thank the gods.

So whoot for plot building and the continuation of story! I will return soon with more pretties for you. Please rate/kudos and review!


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